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ramblings-of-a-mad-cat · 1 year

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Pokemon And Their Trainers

An in-depth analysis of the Pokemon world and its culture (hereafter referred to as the “Pokeverse.”) Where I’ll attempt to understand just what these beings actually are, and how they relate to the humans of their universe.

For this post, I will reference the video game lore, but I will, to a large extent, be pulling examples from the anime. While I can understand why this might invalidate my points to some of you, I truly think the anime should be considered fair game. It depicts what the Pokeverse is truly supposed to be like, as the writers intend it to be, unhampered by the restrictions of a video game.

So here’s the million dollar question. Are Pokemon slaves?

At this point, I know that the Pokemon fandom and the general public have a well-established and largely iron-cast interpretation of what it means to be a Pokemon Trainer, but today I’m going to attempt to challenge that interpretation. Because on the whole, it’s not especially flattering, and I think it’s false. You’ve seen the jokes, and the video essays, and the parody comics. You’ve seen it all. People have criticized Pokemon for the premise of the game effectively being a system of romanticized slavery. That the heartless humans kidnap these innocent animals and force them into sadistic dog-fights to further their own power, to the point where it is a global, televised sport. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you, Pokemon…are slaves. It's animal abuse. Those who argue it are in denial.

The funny thing is, most people don’t argue it. Which is because, to a large extent, most people don’t care. It’s just a video game, right? It’s not as though the Pokemon are outwardly suffering. Pokemon fans seem to just accept this premise and live with it, because the Pokemon world is bright and enjoyable and the formula of the games is simply addicting. To most people, the problematic premise of this universe isn’t a big deal. Nobody takes a passionate stance against it, apart from Gamefreak itself of course. They have little choice but to dismiss these claims, to argue against them…but nobody really listens. The franchise may do the best it can to play up the whole “friendship” angle, but the majority of fans, casual and otherwise, would say they’re not fooling anyone.

I disagree.

I’m not saying these points don’t have merit. To a degree, they do. But this conclusion about the Pokeverse is not the only one that can be drawn from analyzing this world. It's also based on several assumptions, headcanons, and interpretations of this world’s symbolism. I interpret these things differently myself, and I’ll try to explain how. But the bottom line is that humans and pokemon exist together in this world and have a unique relationship. Our world has humans, but not pokemon, so one can assume that the Pokemon are a deliberate symbol of…something. What that something is will probably vary based on who you ask, but just about everyone seems to interpret them as the “animals” of their universe. As in, living creatures who are not human. (Because Humans…are also Animals, and that’s kind of the whole point right there, but I’m getting ahead of myself.)

We seem to draw an inherent comparison between Pokemon and #RealWorld Animals, which is where all of this stems from. I believe this is a mistake. Or if nothing else, it’s not the definitive interpretation of what they are. If anything, the closest comparison I can think of is…maybe Angels? But even that doesn’t truly describe their role. The more the Pokeverse gets fleshed out, the clearer it becomes to me that catching and training Pokemon are completely misunderstood concepts. They’re not really comparable to anything in real life, certainly not the training of animals or the keeping of pets. I genuinely don’t think that the relationship between Trainer and Pokemon has an equivalent in our world.

I do understand where the impulse to make this comparison comes from. Of course people look at Pokemon and see animals. After all, they're living, breathing creatures, magical creatures that coexist with humanity. A not insignificant number of them do resemble real-life animals or are otherwise based on them. The most crucial bit of evidence for this idea is that the Pokeverse, by all appearances, lacks “real world” animals of its own. There are no recognizable creatures from our world to speak of, apart from humanity. So I can see how people reached this conclusion and I get why they draw the parallel.

However, it’s just not a fair comparison to make. Not at all.

Some animals do have the means to defend themselves, of course. But Pokemon have abilities on another level entirely. They’re basically magic. They have superpowers unique to themselves. Can a human spit fire? Tunnel a hole in seconds? Can they summon storms in the blink of an eye? Can a human block all damage with Wonder Guard? The answer is no. They cannot do this. Humans are one race, and a relatively mundane race at that. While they are distinctly separate from Pokemon…that doesn’t make them superior. It doesn’t make them more powerful. The sheer variety in Pokemon species, not to mention the variety of their powers, means that if war was to break out between the two communities…the humans would not win. It wouldn’t even be close.

Pokemon are baked deep into this culture. If you had to guess which of these two societies was here first, would you really guess humanity? I wouldn’t. Just look at the spiritual side of this world. It has deities who are confirmed to exist, who created this world as we know it..and they’re all Pokemon. Who knows where the humans even came from, but the Legendary Pokemon are the ones who fashioned the universe.

It is vanity to assume that Humanity is the dominant species of the Pokeverse.

They are not in charge of this world - they could never be. Pokemon explicitly range from human to above-human level intelligence. The humans attempt to understand them, but the Anime clarifies that they’ve chosen to name the Pokemon based on their speech patterns. Pokemon don’t “say their name” and nothing else. It’s the reverse. They speak unique languages that the humans elected to name them for. By contrast, Pokemon can clearly understand human language. There’s no way around it, they are smarter than us. So it’s no surprise that they have their own communities and systems, totally independent from humanity. However, there are also countless Pokemon who choose (read: CHOOSE) to work with humans, on individual and group-wide scales.

In fact, Pokemon and Humans may not be so different at all.

They may descend from a common ancestor. There is consistent flavor text that verifies this, stating that on a fundamental level, Pokemon and Humans are all but the same. Perhaps humankind and Pokemon weren’t always separate beings? Perhaps they were once one and the same? It’s pure conjecture, but according to the Library in Canalave City, there was a time in the ancient past when Pokemon ate at the same table as Humans and would even marry them sometimes. That last bit of trivia is cut from the English version, undoubtedly because of the popular interpretation I discussed earlier. Fans see Pokemon as animals, and the dubbing team probably wanted to avert any weird implications.

What’s odd is that in Legends: Arceus, which takes place in the ancient past…humans and pokemon have clearly already been separated, and have no relationship beyond hostility and fear towards each other. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large, the idea of a “Pokemon Trainer” is a new concept to the humans in Hisui. I’m getting very off topic now, but it does make a fan wonder. Just what happened to separate pokemon and humankind? They were as close as kin at one point, before some kind of split occurred, and it’s taken countless generations for them to redevelop a closeness...there’s a greater mystery here that isn’t relevant to the topic at hand, but these questions are worth asking. Either way, the point is that the two communities are almost fated to come together.

The Pokemon are drawn to humanity, and whether they invest in an official “trainer” or not, they seek out humans just as often as the humans go looking for them.

The pokemon will form these partnerships out of their own desire. A desire for what, you may be asking? I think it varies, but when it comes to the Trainer/Pokemon relationship, we can assume the typical goal is shared strength. The human and the pokemon form a symbiotic relationship in the Training system. This is stated numerous times, especially in the Anime - A wild pokemon will never reach their full potential. Not without a Trainer. You see? It isn’t only the humans who benefit from this relationship, and the Pokemon understand this. The vast majority of them want to be caught, they seek a trainer who can help them harness their powers.

Mewtwo decries Pokemon Training as Slavery during Mewtwo Strikes Back. Pikachu contradicts him, and Ash literally puts his life on the line in the effort to prove him wrong. Much later, in Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, the same question comes up. Lucario asks if Ash is Pikachu’s “master” and Ash rejects that terminology. Because Pikachu is his best friend, nothing less. There is a reason why the word is “Trainer” and not “Master” or “Owner.” Because Pokemon Trainers do not own their Pokemon. Full stop. The Poke Ball isn't a prison. It, and the PC Boxes from the games, are implied to be a kind of virtual reality. The Poke Ball is a symbol, a convenience more than anything else, but not a requirement. Ash is living proof. The Poke-Ball may be the norm, but if you're claustrophobic like Pikachu, or you're just not feeling it, you can abstain. Ash has never treated Pikachu as a captive. (Except for that one time…)

Okay, I’ll address this real quick. Yes, Ash did drag Pikachu along with a rope in the first episode, and used rubber gloves so that Pikachu could not retaliate. I’m just gonna have to call that #EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. This was Generation 1, this was back when Ghost Types were literally dead Pokemon. Besides, Pikachu had already shocked Ash unprovoked, so the rubber gloves were arguably self-defense. I guess you could make the case that Ash didn’t “truly” become Pikachu’s Trainer until the end of the episode. But in general, the writers have shaped this world beyond what was established in the very beginning, and perhaps they’re deliberately trying to counter the claims of slavery and animal abuse, but even if that’s true…it doesn’t mean make the contributions less canon.

How it started.

How it's going.

Never mind. What about catching pokemon? That’s still messed up, right?

There is an obvious counterargument to be made to my stance, a Donphan in the room, and I won’t ignore it. The counterpoint here is that capturing Pokemon is almost always done against their will. Or at least, that’s how it’s traditionally done, and the norm in the games remains consistent. Still. Ash winds up befriending the majority of his Pokemon instead, and he’s far from the only trainer we see doing so. James is another human who recruits his teammates primarily through his own likable qualities. You might argue that while obtaining a Pokemon can happen without fighting, that style is unusual. But again, based on the anime, it doesn’t seem to be that uncommon. I think what’s considered rare is that Ash seems to specialize in doing this despite his intended goal of training Pokemon for battle.

But, whatever. Capturing Pokemon through battle still happens, right? It happens quite a lot. The examples that differ from this norm don’t erase that, nor do they erase how repugnant it is. After all, the Trainer is cornering a creature who more often than not, was just minding their own business. (A wild pokemon is very often the one to initiate battle, but never mind.) The trainer then forcibly kidnaps them after violently assaulting them. Even the term “capturing” pokemon has problematic connotations. No way around it - on paper, this sounds bad. It sounds horrific. But if I may, I’d like to offer a different perspective based on what I’ve been able to observe of the Pokeverse’s culture. First of all, I’d like to offer a scalding hot take about the violence of Pokemon battles. This may be where I lose a lot of people, but hear me out.

I challenge the idea that a Pokemon battle is “violent.”

Or at least, I don’t believe the characters consider it to be violent, not in the same way we understand it. A pokemon battle isn’t assault, because they’re not human. But it’s also not animal abuse, because the Pokeverse doesn’t have animals. Again, it’s worth remembering that Pokemon are supernatural creatures with magical powers, and I’d say their powers, the “moves” they learn, play by different rules than conventional fighting. There’s actually quite a bit of evidence to suggest that this is true.

In Mewtwo Strikes Back, the Pokemon very specifically fight their clones without access to any of their actual moves, after Mewtwo psychically blocks their powers. Everything about this scene is meant to convey tragedy. All of a sudden, a series that’s been all about battle is preaching against violence. Sure, we can call it bad writing, executive meddling, or anything we want. But ignore the Fourth Wall and ask yourself, why would the characters react this way in-universe? Why is it that Pokemon battling has always been okay, but in this one instance, it’s not? The movie goes to great lengths to show us that the Pokemon are hurting each other. Which we don’t normally see.

The only difference? The Pokemon aren’t using their normal moves.

From this, we can conclude that the typical, conventional Pokemon battle, where the two pokemon fight using their special abilities...it doesn’t hurt them. It may tire them out, but a Pokemon Center can heal basically any injuries in record time. Nurse Joy is some kind of miracle worker…or maybe she isn’t. Maybe The Pokemon are being tired out from their battles, but not actually harmed in the long term. This would explain why Pokemon attacks don’t cause lasting damage to humans, either. Get hit with a Flamethrower? Don’t worry, you’ll just be temporarily stunned and have soot all over your face. The doylist explanation is, once again, that it’s a children’s cartoon, but that doesn’t explain what’s happening in-universe. Team Rocket has been electrocuted by Pikachu a near-infinite number of times. So how are they even alive?

Simple. Pikachu isn’t actually trying to kill them. Because of course he isn’t. It’s quite possible that Pokemon moves simply are not capable of inflicting serious damage, or perhaps Pokemon have an inherent resistance to them. But I suspect it’s not a lack of ability that stops Pokemon moves from being violent…but an almost universal choice. That when Pokemon go on the offensive with their powers, or at least, when they direct said powers at humans…they are always pulling their punches. That’s why the fight on New Island was so grotesque - the Pokemon were not remotely familiar with battling that way, engaging in true violence, and there’s little doubt that they were figuratively and literally scarred by that night.

It’s no wonder they never use their powers to cause actual bodily harm to anyone - I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of sacred, unspoken taboo among Pokemon against doing so. A taboo that wouldn't be known to the newborn clone Pokemon on New Island. A taboo that may not have existed centuries ago, in say, the ancient times of the Hisui region. But present day, communities of Pokemon are more civilized, and they a working relationship with human society that ranges from neutral to friendly. We’re in head-canon territory now, but this kind of law among pokemon kind makes a lot of sense. There may be Pokemon out there who break this taboo, but they would be few and far between - probably outcasts among their own kind. It would add a new dimension to Pikachu's refusal to fight back against his clone counterpart.

Again, this scene makes a point of telling us over and over, that what we’re seeing is wrong. “Pokemon aren’t meant to fight. Not like this.” That line right there is precisely the point. Battling isn’t meant to be like that, and in practice, it almost never is. There’s a reason why Pokemon almost never actually die in battle, and only get “very weak,” a condition that is cured flawlessly with the medical science of a Pokemon Center. It’s almost like a Pokemon’s powers create a kind of invisible simulation system, allowing them to spar with their opponent safely. Because that’s what a Pokemon battle is, at heart. It’s a test of skill. It’s meant to just be friendly sparring. A kind of sport that the Pokemon and Trainers engage in together, and it’s stated many times that they need to be in sync to have any hope of a successful career in professional matches. Again, I refer you to Mewtwo Strikes Back. The Pokemon were able to use their powers collectively to restore Ash to life. There’s clearly a lot more to a Pokemon’s power than just combat. That part is nothing more than recreation for them.

I realize that I deviated tremendously from the original question about capturing Pokemon, but I feel that it’s important to address this point.

Pokemon Battling is not violence. It’s effectively a sport that all sides consent to playing, a sport that has safety measures practically built in, as well as further precautions offered like the Pokemon Center. In that sense, it's more or less just another interpretation of Pokemon Contests, and Showcases, and everything else. A human helping a Pokemon study their powers and use them to fullest potential. This is the reason why I don’t actually consider a Trainer fighting a wild Pokemon to be so obscene. However, that only addresses the question of violence. Trainers are still kidnapping Pokemon against their will, right? That’s why one has to “weaken” a Pokemon to catch them. Well, believe it or not, I’m going to debunk that too.

Barring exceptions, the wild Pokemon must be exhausted to the point that they can no longer resist a poke-ball, before you can obtain them. Their opinion about being caught is always a non-issue. By all accounts, it doesn't seem as though this is acceptable. But even this, I think, is part of the cultural dissonance. Among other things, we don’t know what the little “click” of the Poke-ball actually means. It signals that the capture was a success, but is that the Pokemon choosing to yield, or the Poke Ball’s technology locking them in? It’s a little ambiguous, I’ll freely admit as much…but I would argue that the former idea isn’t impossible. Again, wild Pokemon, generally speaking, actually want to find a Trainer. The first episode of the anime even hints that certain wild Pokemon are jealous of those with trainers. With that in mind, why is catching them even a fight to begin with?

I’ll tell you why. When a wild pokemon battles a trainer, they are essentially giving that trainer a test.

They’re gauging the trainer’s abilities to bring out the potential of their pokemon. If you’re a trainer, and your pokemon defeats another pokemon in the wild…you’ve just proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that your pokemon is stronger than the wild one. You have now proven that you have something to offer, you’ve passed the test. The wild Pokemon now realizes that it stands to learn something, to grow more powerful, by accepting your tutelage. That’s why it’s considered acceptable to the pokemon to follow a trainer after they are overpowered and captured. It’s like…right of conquest, but with fully informed consent.

Consent is key here, and I believe this cultural understanding to be the reason that most pokemon are immediately comfortable with following the trainer who caught them. While one might argue that they don't really have a choice anymore...that simply isn't true. The anime clarifies that Pokemon can release themselves from a Poke-Ball whenever they want. Misty’s Psyduck is the most iconic example of this, but there are countless others. In theory, a Pokemon could just leave a trainer who they find unsatisfactory. Actually, that’s not just a theory. That’s canon. Something that most people don’t seem to realize (or at least, they forget) is that it’s not just Trainers who ditch Pokemon they no longer want. It happens in reverse as well.

Pokemon can and do abandon their trainers, if they deem said trainers to be unworthy of their talents.

Remember when I said that I would be chiefly referencing the anime, because it’s the most reliable depiction of what the Pokeverse is supposed to be like? This is exactly what I was talking about. Because obviously, this never happens in the games. Your Pokemon don’t just disappear from your party or PC boxes, because that would be an incredibly stupid and unfair mechanic. But in the anime, where the relationships between pokemon and trainer are more fleshed out? In the first season, Bad To The Bone is about a Marowak who chose to ditch his trainer after said trainer had his badges stolen. While the Marowak eventually changed his mind, at no point did any character voice the idea of trying to return him by force. It was Marowak’s choice and no one else’s, which is why the trainer was heartbroken.

But that’s not a one-off, it’s not the only example. There are quite a few. Due to a misunderstanding, Gym Leader Pryce once believed his Piloswine had abandoned him. Then there’s Ash. Always the mother hen, he’s adopted many pokemon who were abandoned by previous trainers, but the opposite has also happened. His Snivy, and his Greninja, are both Pokemon who were explicitly stated to have had previous trainers whom they chose to leave, because they didn’t feel understood. Typically, it seems that Pokemon choose to leave because they feel as though the unspoken contract that is “pokemon training” has been violated somehow, or they’re otherwise not getting what they signed up for. This is why the traditional method of “catching” pokemon is so vital. Because it’s an honor system.

Any time a human does attempt to force a pokemon into submission or otherwise harm them through any method that is not the traditional system of capture, the story treats them as unquestionably villainous for doing so. The other humans react in horror, and attempt to stop them. This is because forgoing the “defeat them in battle” route and instead using some kind of technology or whatnot to claim the Pokemon is seen as dishonorable at the best of times, and evil at the worst of times. The Trainer is ignoring the agency of the Pokemon. Attempting capture in the conventional way is a mutually accepted system, the wild Pokemon know and understand that a trainer may attempt to take them, and if they really don’t want to be said Trainer’s pokemon, they can always choose to leave after they are captured. But the use of other means takes that choice away from them. These villains, usually the evil Teams, are using methods of capture that fail to demonstrate to the Pokemon why they are a worthy Trainer, and likewise rob them of the ability to judge them as unworthy.

So yes, there are exceptions, but for the reasons I have described, I fail to see how the idea of “slavery” is applicable to properly trained Pokemon.

They have the power to attack their trainers whenever they choose. Sometimes they do. They have magical abilities that enslaved humans in real life do not have. Legends: Arceus does a great job of highlighting just how dangerous Pokemon could be toward their human counterparts if they really wanted to be. They also have the power to leave. A Pokeball is not a chain. The only time a Pokemon struggles to escape a Ball is when it is first used on them, and the connection is initially forged. But, as I’ve talked about, I believe this to be a ceremonial process and little else. Trainers will immediately send out freshly caught Pokemon to heal or train, and the Pokemon don’t run. But once again, they could. What is stopping them? Ash’s Charizard never saw fit to abandon him, but if he had, what could Ash have actually done about it? Basically nothing. He’d get a flamethrower to the face and then Charizard would fly off. The same thing is true for any of Ash’s Pokemon, or the trained Pokemon of any Trainer ever.

There’s another Donphan in the room that I’d like to touch on real quick. I’ve talked a lot about how the anime clarifies the nature of Pokemon and their relationship to their Trainers…but I also mentioned that the developers have openly tried to beat back the claims of animal abuse, of slavery. The anime speaks for itself, but what about the time Black and White openly addressed these criticisms? You were probably waiting for me to bring it up, but the truth is, I don’t have much to say. The idea of Pokemon and Trainers having a symbiotic relationship, and needing each other…the idea that they shouldn’t be separated…all of that is touched on in the games, but the subject is mostly used as a scapegoat by a wannabe dictator.

I have yet to see any character in Pokemon honestly make the same comparison that critics make in real life, and I doubt we ever will see that happen. It’s just not an idea that can be properly explored in the Pokeverse, because our world is unknown to them. Our way of doing things isn’t something that any in-universe Trainer could hope to understand. It’s an entirely different culture. The way we personally view Pokemon as creatures is colored by our context, by the fact that we’re on the outside, peering into this world with the perspective of a society that doesn’t have Pokemon. To the humans, this is the way their world works. Team Plasma came the closest to approaching that idea, but even then, they were the villains. It was made abundantly clear that they were wrong.

In theory, Pokemon are servants at the whims of their Trainers. In practice, they’re actually the ones with real power and the relationship is balanced, nuanced, and heavily based on mutual trust.

In theory, Pokemon are the wild animals of their universe. In practice, they have no equivalent to our world. They are, as we're told many times, "wondrous creatures." They have no explanation.

In theory, Pokemon are forced to engage in senseless violence day in and day out. In practice, Pokemon battling is an art form that the Pokemon themselves choose to pursue, and it is not remotely dangerous.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. If you need me, I'll be hunting for a shiny Wattrel.

#LONG Post #Pokemon #Pokemon Anime #Pokemon Games #Ash Ketchum #Pokemon Analysis #Just one Cat's Opinion #The Pokeverse #pokemon worldbuilding #Pokemon: Legends Arceus #Pokemon Theory #Pokemon Headcanons #Fandom Analysis #Mewtwo Strikes Back

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redfish-blu · 1 year

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An Open Letter to the Danger Days Tumblr Community:

Now that you’ve read that overdramatic title and are wondering who fucked up, I have something to say about the Danger Days Tumblr community: I Love You.

Danger Days was the first fandom I ever posted for on any site. All the way back in middle school (ho-ly shit). And let me tell you what I found out even way back when: this is not an easy fandom to be in.

For one, most people don’t even know it exists. For two, even less know it in the way it’s been cultivated on Tumblr. Almost every single person has such a niche interpretation of every little detail, that it’s impossible to draw a line through any two versions of the story. Which is a fact I personally love, but I also think it scares a lot of people away. You have to work to be in this fandom. Both as a passive and active fan. It requires patience and tolerance for disappointment.

But that’s exactly why I want to encourage everyone who creates and everyone who listens to Keep Doing That. Like I cannot stress this enough, that is what keeps this fandom and IP alive. Danger Days as a universe would be absolutely nothing without fan work (re: the California Comics), especially a decade later. Without fans who care about this story way more than it has warranted us to care, it would be six feet under. And sometimes I really think that’s what it deserves (and maybe the writers think that as well), but for the life of me I just can’t let that happen. I’ve tried to let this fucking thing go, believe me.

And funny enough, that exact feeling is evidenced by the community on this site too. Which has changed faces almost completely from what it was three years ago for better and less better in some cases. And it’s something I still struggle with adjusting to, but I look at the tag daily. I look everyone’s posts and blogs and art and effort. If you have posted even once in the dd tag my eyes have 100% seen it. So even if I still feel a little out of place, like a ghost of fandom’s past, at least I know everybody. And I know people feel the same way: No rest for the wicked.

When I reanimated from my fandom coma I was fully expecting to find that the community had gone extinct. Partially because all the blogs I used to frequent had straight up died in the three years I was gone. But I pulled up to the gates of the Danger Days tag like Rick Grimes outside of Alexandria, fully expecting to be devastated, only to find New People tilling the fucking field. And it didn’t matter that I now had no idea who any of you people were, it was The Most welcoming thing ever.

I’ll be the first to tell you this fandom bares almost no resemblance to the one I left, and I’m not going to lie and say it’s better now, but the foundation didn’t get blown away in the storm. That’s what I find uniquely profound. That everyone here still wants to try. And that makes me really want to try. And I’m sure everyone would agree that there is often little reward for the effort; but that’s precisely my point in saying all this shit. That even despite the not fun aspects, we all still clock in; and there’s a new post, headcanon, drawing, or fic every freaking day. It’s commendable, really.

If you’re lurking, or post sometimes but feel afraid to actually take a leap here because (the fandom is comparatively tiny to the greater MCR fandom) you’ll be way more out there, and the already established figureheads of the fandom will definitely see your stuff: post post post. This is my formal endorsement to Just Post That Shit. And Interact With That Shit. I spent a year gathering the courage to publish the tiniest thing while behind the scenes I literally wrote about 60+ works. You have to respect your own creativity and trust that other people will give it the time of day.

So do not feel crazy or discouraged about your ideas here! Like we literally need them to function, I would not be here if it wasn’t for all the people three years ago who just posted all their thoughts about Danger Days. About everything. Obscure or not. It’s truly a gift that this fandom has attracted people who are willing to work their brains because the original creators let it fall flat. I cannot tell you how much being in this fandom has actually helped me out in my writing and analysis skills.

So yeah. I fucking love this fandom, I love being in it and I love seeing that people are still stoking the flames. I wanted to say all this crap because I knew I’d be able to articulate it for the people who can relate but don’t want to be the first to say it. Which is okay, understandable. As I said earlier this fandom is like yelling your thoughts out into a very echoey room that only has a few people in it. So I’ll shout first and maybe it’ll make other people more comfortable to shout back.

#i tried to make this as easy to read as possible #this is also an open discussion btw. welcome to the fuckin conference room #we’re all on the council #danger days #mcr #ttlotfk #ttlofk #kobra kid #killjoys #the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #party poison #jet star #fun ghoul #danger days: the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #cas types #long post

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soullessjack · 7 months

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Question for you about baby Jack: do you think the same people that flatten Jack tend to also woobify Cas to the point of comical gentleness and stereotypical femininity? I was thinking about the implications for both autistic characters having their violence and harsh parts cut away to make them more palatable/adorable.

YES OH MY FUCKING GOD THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING IT.

It was definitely way worse around like S6-7 with Crazy!Cas than it is now, especially as a product of the show’s airing time and how queer men (ie Dean and Cas) were generally viewed during then; if you’ve been on the 2010’s internet you might remember all those mlm ship dynamics that were really just repackages of traditional marriage and gender roles: Alpha/Beta, Top/Bottom, Dom/Sub, etc.

/ Full disclosure that I was *not in these online circles during the 2010’s and I’m not any sort of gender studies expert, so anyone’s free to correct me if I get stuff wrong lol. /

But from what I’ve seen and what I know, Alphas, Tops, and Doms are typically very stereotypically masculine, carrying all the stereotypical traits like aggression and emotional unavailability, and filling in stereo-traditionally masculine roles like being protectors or providers. Vice versa, Betas/Bottoms/Subs were usually the extremely effeminate other half; they were more emotionally sensitive and weak, needed to be protected, and for the most part portrayed as looking physically androgynous or “soft.” Ergo, you have basically affixed these queer men to acting as The Man and The Woman, even though it’s two men.

Like I said, it’s definitely gone away for the most part, especially with the rise in actual gender studies and how gender expression is viewed, especially for men. I’ll still see it in some Destiel art here and there where Dean is this big gruff strong pants-wearer saving a blushing baby-faced dress-clad Cas, (cough wheeze diminuel but you didn’t hear that from me) but thankfully it isn’t thee most prevalent content made for Cas the way baby!jack is thee most prevalent content made for Jack, and there have been plenty of people over the years to come forward and correctly establish Cas as a way more dominant and capable guy than the ao3 fics would have you believe.

Same goes for Dean! He’s set up to be The Man, he likes violence and steak and guns and sleazy dive bar sex, but he’s a very emotionally sensitive man and has his own dips into femininity (Rhonda Hurley, cooking/baking, being Sam’s ‘mother,’ etc.) I’m actually of the opinion that SPN has some of the queerest masculinity ever , and again I’m not a gender studies student or expert by a long shot, but I do think there’s something to be said about how a show that is sort of built on a reversal and deconstruction of the nuclear family (ie Mary being a hunter and John being a normal man, Dean being Sam’s mother in their childhood) is so constantly regurgitated into those very roles by the fandom:

Sam is the “mom” of Jack’s 3 dads, Cas is the sensitive effeminate bean who needs big strong brawny man Dean to protect him, etc., and with Jack’s confirmation as non-binary so many ppl took to drawing them in mostly feminine fashion (which to me speaks a lot to how queer masculinity is treated but that’s for another post I think).

There’s also a lot to be said about how important mothers and motherhood are to SPN. Mary Winchester, Kelly Kline, Lily Sunder, Rowena Macleod, Jody Mills, Amelia Novak, I’m sure I could go on. Sam and Dean follow in the footsteps of their mother’s family as hunters. Castiel bonds with Jack through Kelly, and Jack takes after Kelly more than he does Lucifer (his grandma even points out that he sort of looks like her). I’m absolutely not saying SPN is this ultra feminist show, but when it tries it tries, and what it lays down is very much worth picking up.

you’ll have to forgive me for centering Jack on a Cas ask but I promise it’s not for nothing. like, the whole “twist” to Jack’s character isn’t just that he’s good or sweet; it’s also that he’s much more like his mother. Not only does he look like her, but he’s also very emotional; he’s sensitive, he’s intuitive, he’s deeply empathetic. and where most teen boys wanna be like their old man, he wants to be more like Kelly; even keeping her name as his own. of course he presents fairly masculinely, as do the other guys (unless we’re counting kitchen aprons as a feminine thing, which I only would with a grain of salt), but so much of his character is faceted in being like Kelly; being like his mother, being like a woman, and within the show’s framework that’s a celebrated thing!

I feel like I’m getting away from the original question so here’s some last thoughts to send out the door with you:

> Sam and Dean’s connection and relationship to Mary is also celebrated within the show, arguably more so than their relationship with John

> the importance of mothers in spn is somewhat highlighted by their absences (Sam and Dean, Claire)

TLDR: supernatural accidentally smashed the nuclear gender family and made their men queer and fandom culture/patriarchal norms doesn’t understand it because masculinity isn’t seen as inherently queer the way femininity/androgyny is

#I might actually take up gender studies eventually now it is pretty interesting #not like in college or anything lol . well maybe .#idk lolz #holdthypeace.txt #bringing back that one tag from another post :#every day the gender binary is reinvented and perpetuated and every day I want to rip my skin off to escape it #spn #supernatural #tfw2.0 #jack kline #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #destiel #mlm ships #gender stuff #spn study #does this make sense am I insane #also I don’t know if this is necessary but I’ll say it anyways #1) I am not a terf and I don’t ever hope for this argument to be caught on with them #2) im non-binary and I love Jack for being non-binary and my little side note ab the way he’s drawn is not a statement against that ;#; it’s a statement against how masculinity isn’t seen as queer unless it’s in proximity to femininity or androgyny #usually. I know bears are having a grand old time tho 🙌🙌

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factual-fantasy · 2 years

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I got 25 (late) asks 😅 (its got some fnaf lore too tho!👀)

You know? You’ve got a point. I cant imagine Monty getting split in half would be a fun thing to remember..

But honestly? If Monty remembered everything that happened that night? The damage he took from the splash bucket would be small potatoes to him. The thing that would REALLY freak him out is remembering how he went berserk and tried to hunt down and kill a child.

And Pyro! XD

SLKAJLKDJF THANK YOUUUU!!!

--As for how I create headcannons/AUs,, XD

Headcannons and AUs are mostly just me filling in the blanks in cannon in my own ✨special✨ way.

Like FNAF Security Breach for example.

Me: “So what happened to Bonnie exactly? Did Monty REALLY destroy him out of jealousy? How did Afton get down there in the basement? Why is Foxy never mentioned despite Pirates cove being a thing? Is he even IN the story? How come all the animatronics were attacking you? How come Freddy WASN’T attacking you? What made Freddy crash on stage? What happened to Vanny and the animatronics after Gregory left? How does the Daycare attendant work? Is he two animatronics in one? Is he two separate animatronics? How can his FABRIC CLOTHES physically change color if the game implies they are the same animatronic? WHY was Gregory at the pizzaplex in the first place??“

FNAF/Steel wool: “Lol figure it out”

Me:

Yes, although I will not specify where they are in the story or what is going to become of them.

I can confirm that yes, both William Afton and Vanny are not only in my AU, but both play a major role in the over all story. :}

Hmmm, good question... Now, my memory isn’t the best. But out of all the fandoms I’ve jumped into? I’d probably say Octonauts was the most welcoming and overall supportive of me.

I think part of it was because the Octonauts fandom is a bit small.. so when a new artist came around it was like “Heck yeah man! Common in! :DDD”

And also most of the angst lovers in the fandom were on the same page as me, so I got a lot of support there too XD

Tank qqqq!!! :}}}} ❤❤❤

I have! And I’ve seen a few episodes of it. So far I really like it! Mostly because there were episodes centered around my favorite characters XD (Captain Barnacles, Calico Jack, Ranger Marsh and Professor Natquik)

XD I’m glad you like them! Although I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be posting them. Considering I’m making more progress in the FNAF writing.. 😅

Tank qqq,, I’m glad you like him! :DD And I’m sure DJMM would be glad to hear someone say that XD

I cant find the WORDS for this, this was all so SWEET AHHOASKNLKM This really hit me right in my heart man- I hjust- HSFDF

THANK YOU SO MUCHH!! This was such a nice thing to read!!!😭😭😭

(Post in ask)

Actually, funnily enough Engineer isn’t wounded in this comic. This was before his injury.

Engineer is just freaking the heck out over the dolls outside.. 👀

(But yes he does recover from his injury that he gets later in the story)

Actually, you may be in luck! Have you heard the news going around? There was some updates recently and a lot of the bots have been weeded out.

When I heard the news, I couldn’t believe it. So I hopped on to see what was up and sure enough.. the casual servers were surprisingly clean. I mean there’s still a bot here and there. But it wasn’t like before when you couldn't even leave spawn without getting sniped from across the map.

The casual servers actually have real players now, and most of the bots have been wiped out :}}

Or at least, uh. It was like that last time I checked a few months ago. Maybe the bots came back idk--

I don’t like it when people draw fanart of my stuff.

But if you were to draw fanart and never show/tell anyone and it would only be for your eyes to see? I mean, what am I gonna do? Be upset about something that I have no idea was drawn?

The only set back would be the ✨soul crushing guilt✨ of drawing fanart of some of my stuff even though you know I don’t vibe with that XD

@orionapraxnia

Not.. really? I mean, if I miss a fandom, I just. Jump back into it XD

Like I did with TF2 recently. I was getting a little burnt out with writing so I took a short break by diving head first into TF2 again XD

I used to shy away from parkouring from fandom to fandom back in the day. But now a days I find that I have more fun by just drawing what ever I feel like drawing at the time. And my followers don’t seem to mind sooo,, XD

@burningmusicfunnygiant

Yes sirrr, those two were best buds back in the day,

(Here’s a link to the video)

I went and watched the video. And although it was pretty cool!.. It was a fan-made video. Its not an actual DLC..😅

@paintedpig I have a voice in mind for Foxy actually! I imagine him sounding just like his cannon voice. You can hear it in the Ultimate custom night voice lines.

As for Bonnie? I don’t think I really have one in mind for him... But I know he doesn’t sound high pitched and goofy. Like Nedd bear or Goofy the dog. I imagine his voice is deeper and more chill. Kind’a like what Freddy Fazbear might sound like?

Thank youuu,,, :}}}

Aww, I’m glad! :D

And its not that I don’t like those comics anymore. I’m still proud of them and like how they came out! Its just that from a lore perspective,, they don’t fit into the story anymore. Soooo for the sake of telling the story, they need a do over! :}

@sweetturtledonkeycookie I usually draw/post what ever fandom I’m into at the time. After my FNAF re-faze dies down maybe I’ll jump back into Octonauts. Or Undertale, ooorrrr jump into a NEW fandom like Sam and Max or something XD I cant predict what faze I’m going to go through next! You’re just going to have to wait and see! 😅

Yeah, I figured that the story was probably great and the characters were probably great.. but I judged a book by its cover and turned the other way <XD

Right now I have a lot of shows that I’m too lazy to watch that I mean to get around to someday. I guess for the sake of the story I’ll have to add Transformers animated to the list and give it the shot it deserves. :}

@mysteriousl0ser Roxy only got put up on stage after Bonnie was decommissioned, yes.

When Foxy was taken, the Band took a hit without their Keytar player. But the company hadn’t thought to put the other animatronics on stage in his place. Mostly because Monty/Roxy wouldn’t have really fit into the group..

But when Bonnie was damaged? Now they were down their Keytar player and their Bass player. So at that point they really needed to rebuild the band for that nights show so they tossed Monty and Roxy on the stage in their places.. <:/

As for how long the gap was between Foxy and Bonnie’s decommissions? That part of the timeline hasn’t been fully ironed out yet.. but I’d say about maybe 4 months to a year? It was supposed to feel like when the animatronics were finally starting to get back up on their feet and began to process Foxy’s death.. Bonnie was unexpectedly taken too. Knocking them all back down again..

Also thank you!! :DDD I’m glad you like them!! :}}

@johnbrownanarchist XD Thanks! It took me a while to figure out what he would look like back in the old days.

As for the description thing? I suppose you could use it. I mean, who doesn’t like Monty in a silly hat? XD

@wackigremlinchild Tank you!! :}} I did my best!

@conflicted-phoenix XD That is one of the highest complements I have ever received.

#my response #fnaf security breach #team fortress 2

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a-lil-perspective · 2 years

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Okay. I’ve tried to keep silent about this for as long as I can but I’m at my wits end.

I’m not going to be accused of reposting. Full stop.

I have been in this fandom since the very beginning. When there was like, all of ten people here mingling and sharing each other’s stuff. I have seen this particular corner of fandom grow immeasurably over the last two years. I’ve been with it. When there were a handful of bad batch x reader oneshots, and the Dad Batch was a virtually nonexistent concept. Same with the incorrect quotes.

Let’s break it down:

Incorrect Quotes

It’s quite literally impossible for me to be “reposting” incorrect Bad Batch quotes that A.) I have posted an upwards of a thousand of for over two years since the fandom’s earliest inception and B.) Using characters that are very unique to me i.e. “Cyare”, “Heartfire/Auntie” etc.

I’ll say on numerous occasions I’ve seen quotes I have done using the same slew of Bad Batch characters posted elsewhere and I just can’t be petty about that. I understand it’s inevitable to a degree. I do screenshot each one I see and the date it was posted compared to mine, for my own credibility. But there’s nothing I can do about it because as I’ve said, a lot of these are from a generalized piece of media such as movies/tv shows. So I understand they are going to get recycled repeatedly.

Onto another (main) point.

The Dad Batch

The Dad Batch is a huge thing now. Almost everyone is writing something for it in some capacity. Can I say that I’ve seen my concepts used without credit? My character Asher with neither permission or credit? My headcanons and very personal Dad Batch scenarios? Cross’buir, a pregnant S/O storyline, Papa Hunter, his army of girls…

I am not reposting Dad Batch content that I, humbly, created the very market of. There. I said it. I didn’t want to. But I did.

For people who are relatively new here, like within that last year/year and a half or so and aren’t familiar with me, these are Dad Batch concepts I have been building on for 2+ years. I have an extensive, very extensive storyline and universe and the lore runs deep. It’s impossible to know it all, so I give people the benefit of the doubt. For those of you that have been here the whole time (bless your soul), you know I have a shit ton of Dad Batch posts, concepts, fics, etc. So this is my main issue.

I don’t want drama. I’ve been able to ignore this issue for some time even though it’s bothered me, I understand there is going to similar concepts and there’s nothing I can do to prevent that, I’ve said nothing and just tried to cruise in my own lane, but this is where I draw the line.

I’ve been largely fine without credit. I’m glad to see inspiration obviously taking shape, but I’m not going to be accused of reposting when I myself see my work/concepts/dialogues recycled all the time. Yes, I take screenshots of those too.

“Why are you complaining then if you’ve made no efforts to halt it?”

I haven’t complained before now, that’s just it. I’ve let it slide, I’ve ignored it, I’ve pushed ahead and continued to do my own thing while the very reposter gets 2-3x the notes on a concept/storyline I’ve spent my time and energy and tears on for months and years. It’s very disheartening. But it’s not my job to be the fandom police. That’s the last thing I want.

But to be told I’m stealing/borrowing/reposting a concept or scenario that I’ve already written myself and founded on for 2+ years? It’s really kind of laughable.

I really didn’t want it to come to this. In posting this I anticipate heavy backlash, but this is where it ends for me. I plan not to discuss this any further.

I plan to continue on as normal. I just wanted to voice my opinion. I’ve been here too long, contributed too much, it’s been a long and hard road and incredibly isolating but I’ve stuck around in spite of it all. I’ve watched readers migrate away and I understand that’s just how it is, I can’t share the market all to myself, and I don’t. I just want there to be accurate representation.

Thank you for listening.

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pooopopop · 9 months

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I've seen nearly all of J2M's panels, interviews, posts, read articles about them and their own provided works etc. I find them all observationally fascinating and approach trying to understand them and their different life experiences with an open mind and can acknowledge that certain situations aren't always going to equal the whole truth of a famous someone because I will never know them personally and therefore cannot ask directly. Conventions/panels, for instance: they're for entertainment purposes, part humor and sarcasm, part truth. Stories, interactions, are often going to be embellished.

Whilst none of them are perfect — literally no one is! — and of course I don't know them on an intimate, personal level, I still feel very confident in saying that they're inherently good people, based on the conclusions I've reached from my own research. That doesn't mean I'm incapable of scrutinising certain behavior or thinking critically just because I'm not agreeing with your opinions.

I could continue to refute a lot of your points individually by offering a different perspective (and draw attention to where your so-called facts are simply incorrect) but I don't think persisting with circular arguments is a worthwhile use of time. You're entitled to feel differently about these things and clearly have made firm decisions based on the "evidence" you've gathered about Misha in particular. I rest assured knowing your POV is not the majority. ✌️

I mean you’ve been sending me long anons for days already and I’ve gone to the trouble of providing sources for all my claims for *you*, I don’t know why you couldn’t do the same if you’re already invested in talking to me anyways. If there’s individual claims I made that you take issue with because you don’t think they’re credible and I didn’t supply my sources, please be specific, and I’ll provide what I can to show either what I’m referring to or how it brought me to having my opinion. I think people just make excuses and justify questionable behavior in order to keep their attachments to them. Even if you think you’re looking at them critically and from a distance, you’re still fostering a parasocial relationship, and nobody is “inherently good”, least of which are rich celebrities. That doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy them. I enjoy Norm Macdonald, the IASIP cast, and a lot of other people without needing to make sure I’m weighing their every sin and good deed on a scale, in order to keep enjoying them.

The difference is that these people constantly go to conventions and everybody besides J2 is pretty accessible. Misha in particular has gone out of his way to foster this environment where he knows the happenings in the fandom and recognizes fangirls, acknowledges them, responds to them on social media, sometimes meets up with them IRL, and has had things like Gish and his community phone number where he’s been even MORE accessible and uses terms of endearments with everybody. The last part feels especially suspect to me because it proves he’s speaking to an audience of fangirls (and people of whatever adjacent gender who are attracted to men, obviously, but we’ll still refer to them as fangirls for brevity’s sake and because I think calling them “minions” is stupid infighting shit that aligns me with J2ers).

I’m speaking to people on here because tumblr is a historically horny and obsessive fandom space and people are joining this fandom all the time and they are only made aware of whatever the circle jerk tells them first. Not only does it foster a bad relationship with middle aged men that you don’t know, and if you did know then it’s because they met you as someone who is a fan of them, it also fosters a bad community environment. People end up having whole friendship networks that depend on unquestionable loyalty to these men, and a hierarchy is created based on who proves themselves to be more devout; in their determination to defend these men, defend the people that they surround themselves with, defend their beliefs, and their every action big OR small. From Misha supporting ICE, the Clintons, the predatory advice in the threesome’s handbook, to the dumbest little things like how he made a Threads account and positioned it as a better alternative to Twitter. This fandom routinely cannibalizes itself and purges the whistleblowers out.

and I got triggered by that karla gif set the other day lol. SailorSally joined the fandom after November 5th and knows nothing but praise for the man, and while I didn’t send those anons to her I can sympathize with them. The cockles fandom can be the worst sometimes because they really push the narrative that he’s queer (and gay for jensen) because they think it’s a testament to his character and therefore it discredits a lot of the shit I’m complaining about. Even if they’re not tinhatters, then they think it positions Misha’s virtues above Jensen, because I guess he’s supposed to be like a bullied gay kid who is still so loving and affectionate in the face of Jensen’s Toxic Masculinity and Homophobia, or something, despite Jensen having gay gossip rags and magazines profiling him as a closeted cutie for way longer with a lot more persistence. Tbh

#Misha collins #jensen ackles #cockles

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ofmermaidstories · 2 years

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Mermie…the leaks… the only way I’ve been dealing with it is just thinking “oh hot robot arm Katsuki :)”and then my humor side was like “oh ghost Katsuki then” but then I just want to scream and shake my fist at the clouds *over exaggerates Texan accent* we’re really in it now brother and I’m here for all your thoughts 🥹😭

Also your new tarot deck tell me all about it!! How’s the energy feel and what excites you the most about it!!

I wish you a beautiful rest of your day and I’m so thankful I get to yell about anime boys and gush about spooky things with you 💕💝🌸🌻

i screamed at my bestie last night until she FINALLY answered me, and it went like:

(spoilers and leaks discussion under the cut but im also tagging tf out of this post so you’ve been warned!!!!!)

look, robot arms are sexy as fuck right? but im devastated bc i just KNOW this GREMLIN of a child will pick like a, fucking bazooka for an accessory HELDFPOGJLDKFGJK.

(anyways, beyond the actual leaks themselves—because we all know Hori won’t murder his cash cow lmaoooo, although, honestly, if i were Hori, I would, just like… out of sheer spite but ANYWAYS—i really like what we’ve seen of the anniversary colour spread???? everyone looks so cute!! and then, of course, there’s our lad Bakugou. 😔 Hori draws him so fat-faced, it delights me.

artistic rendition so i don’t spoil anything more than necessary for those who haven’t seen it. i really like how much Hori’s art style has refined over these last eight years!!! which is like, inevitable i guess, when you draw every day for those eights years…. it’s just really neat to witness!!!!)

i dunno… stuff like this is fun because it’s not high stakes (i….. i think) but also it ruins my fanfics even more than canon already does, so im mad LMAO. i need to finish the Deku fic ASAP because if Hori does something even worse i just know it’s going to make writing the last part of that fic incredibly, incredibly hard LOL sdlfjsdlkfjds.

i love my new tarot cards!!! i like to collect tarot cards in general for the art of them, and i saw these being unboxed on tiktok!!! they’re the le tarot de l’étoile cachée, and they’re very beautiful! fun!!! there’s things like bitcoins and mobile phones and dildos in them LOL. so a very grown-up deck. the cardstock is nice—i like having something to do with my hands so i’ve been sitting here shuffling them when im at my desk, though they’re a bit awkward. they’re big!!! and my hands aren’t particularly small, but im still having trouble. but i really like them!!!

i hope your evening is going well, Keds. 🥺 i’ll be here and ready to scream on Sunday when we get the translations. 😔🔫 one of the genuinely distressing parts of what’s dropped so far is the idea of Aizawa like, begging one of the other adults presents to save Bakugou. 😭 Oh my God, the idea hurts so much LMAO. i know here in our niche of the fandom we’re writing about Bakugou and his little friends as adults, but in canon they’re still kids, and they’re all in so much danger and like, imagine being their teacher???? and having to watch that???? watch this little shit you’ve grown fond of and believe in grow into himself just to literally throw himself into harm’s way—ugh. I’m an Aizawa stan, I love him, I’m pivoting from Bakugou fics this is an Aizawa ONLY blog from now on!!!!

#ofmermaidstories-asks #oh how she rocks in keds and tube socks #bnha manga leaks #mha manga leaks #bnha leaks #mha leaks #bnha 359 leaks #mha 359 leaks

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showmethehotpods · 2 years

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Answering your message under read more, anon. I know negativity and fandom discourse can stress people out, so I don’t want to make anyone too uncomfortable discussing it.

Anonymous asked:

I'm straight up done with people in the hazbin Hotel rpc. I have been here since 2018 and seen it all. Lost friends who did not receive any attention and been overlooked. Certain people who demonize others for writing darker content or erasure a character's sexuality. I will admit.. being here sucks. I am sick of having to prove myself worthy of being looked at. Sick of the drama in private discord rp servers. Please make sure you cater to your own comfort.

I will admit, I haven’t seen too much of the vilification of darker content myself, but I have heard it’s something of a problem. I think it also boils down to if you’re writing a character people like or identify with in a way that they don’t see them themselves, it causes that friction. What I have seen is a lot of blogs throwing mud around at each other over different opinions regarding sexualities and other things - what should or shouldn’t be, when in reality, there’s only so much canon material to go off. If people want to expand the character and imagination in other ways, why not?

It’s not a great place to be right now, and I find it difficult how anybody could argue against that. I haven’t been around too much, haven’t been posting - but I still watch, and there is so, so much aggressiveness. Everyone is ready to fight everyone else, and if you have one disagreement, one little slip up - your head’s on a pike and you’re entirely blacklisted from all the big, active writers. It’s messed up. Even with working on bettering my own communication skills, it’s not something that would fly in real world settings, so why does it become so prevalent here? Block people that you need to, cater your blog for your own comfort, but man - if you’ve had friends and writing partners in the fandom for years, and suddenly it’s a case of you don’t owe anybody anything and nobody gets close to anyone over the internet, we’re all strangers? I can’t really work with that, myself. I’d much rather try to resolve a problem if I can, especially if I care about someone.

Probably said far too much of my piece already, but just know you can always come and talk to me, anon. I appreciate your message, and your concerns. I’ve honestly just been having so much difficulty aspiring to write anything at all. Maybe I’ll get back to it in a little while - but it has been nice to just. Turn off from all of the bullshit, do some of my drawing and focus on getting my own life in order.

#🌻 Muntalk #Negative tw #Fandom Drama tw #Long Post #Don't read if you don't like uncomfortable discussions.

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everlastingspiral · 2 years

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hi hi, in your ask ‘cause of a tagged post and wanted to say i disagree about people going on “crusades” when it seems like (unless i missed a post??) people want others to draw/write what they want for the listeners (i do agree the whole ’not *the* listeners, *your* listeners’ thing is silly tho like lol the latter part is implied automatically) but just tag/note so they can decide to engage or not. but anyway, i scrolled your tumblr and found a few things i agreed with (xavier being introduced just to die, the consequences of inversion where 1500 people died not quite being at the level that would be expected of an event like that for major characters, the feeling that all antagonists need to be like 100% bad). it’s the first time (other than a youtube comment here and there) i’ve seen someone be critical even a little of redacted’s work and i’m fascinated lol! i don’t agree with everything on your tumblr lol but but i’m wondering what you would you change about a couple of plots or characters that bother you rn (for me i would chill on the ‘every time alexis is mentioned it’s something immensely negative’ like she can’t be 1000% all bad can she?? there has to be a reason she’s still a major part of the clan and inversion would have taken out a character we actually know maybe or had xavier actually be a major or major supporting character for awhile first; not a writer tho so idk).

I use the term “crusades” from the history of this fandom to get riled up over something very inconsequential, but now that I check again, in my exhausted stupor I mistaked posts from one person for multiple people. I’ll apologize for that at least.

I’m surprised I’ve been having more people on here that don’t act like I want Redacted burned at the stake. I get mad at him sure, but really, it’s not that big of a deal. To be frank most of the things on my “sin list” aren’t things I’m that mad about, it’s more the culmination of them altogether. I’m just venting. Thanks for being so open to conversation. I expected more anon hate when I started posting here, but I digress.

Alright. Anon. You have done it. You have unleashed the floodgates. My third critiquing eye has opened and the planets have aligned. Hell as we know it is freezing over as I type. You have triggered a rant that is far too long and that I had to go back over to add commas in. I guarantee I missed something because that’s how long it went on. I didn’t have any ideas for specific future events in any storyline but I did go over the flaws in his writing, why they were flaws, and how to correct them in the future in a bullet-pointed list. You’re welcome.

Absolutely stop treating Alexis like she’s pure evil. As you’ve said, if it was truly that much of a problem, I don’t understand why the king would keep her around in the first place. The way Sam described his turning also gave me no indication that she turned him out of malice as opposed to concern. She doesn’t need to become a major character, but she needs to stop being brought up as if she’s Adam.

(I’m reading over this response and I want to add that from a character’s point of view of their own trauma, yes, they might 100% villainize and hate whoever caused that trauma. There’s no need for someone to forgive whoever traumatized them that badly, but there’s also a possibility to show a character’s maturity or growth by having them come to an understanding about why someone took the actions against them that they did. For example, I hate the people in my life who have abused me in the past, but I also understand that they were abused themselves, or I was just a person readily available to lash out against. It doesn’t mean I forgive them, the effects of my trauma have been healed, or that their actions were okay. It means I understand that they are people struggling through their own lives like I am. This is a very difficult conclusion to reach but is a remarkable sign of maturity. I’m in no way perfect either and I struggle reaching that point just like anyone else. Just look at my blog, I clearly have anger issues.)

As for other villains, a simple way to portray grey evils is to give them aspects that may be otherwise seen as “good.” They don’t have to be saints, but they may have specific biases you wouldn’t expect of someone bad. To pull up a possible idea for Quinn, perhaps something traumatic happened to him that left him on the streets and he began his nomadic lifestyle in order to help others who also were/feel ostracized from their families. He began helping strays or getting homeless people to shelters and picked up people along the way to help him. That doesn’t sound very “evil” does it? Then we could either have him on a “went mad with power” route, or we could say that the friend of Darlin’s that he killed violated a very personal rule or idea to him, and it resulted in that friend’s death. What was the violated rule or idea? Was it severe enough to justify that friend’s death? This could be as severe as killing someone or being framed for it versus maybe turning their back on a person in need. Was the friend’s death an accident and Quinn ran away without explaining himself, or Darlin’ won’t allow him to?

If attacking Frederick and Bright Eyes was still canon, that alone could be considered a grey area depending on how you go about it. Aside from his trespassing, vampires are made to prey on humans. Is he considered evil for not drinking from them “politely” or is he simply being a vampire and feeding himself? Humans don’t exactly ask for consent when killing wild animals for food, so is what Quinn did much different? That’s a very blurry area that could be debated, and there’s no true “right” answer to it.

This is an example of making a villain “reasonable.” Another I can think of is Vega, who is a compelling character that overstepped his boundaries and twists truths into ugly realities. Demons are also meant to feed on humans, albeit in a different manner, but was it right of him to trap people in an endless cycle of torment for a food source? On the one hand this is resourceful, and on the other this doesn’t take into account his two victims as individuals. His idea is reasonable if you break it down, but the manner he goes about it could be considered going too far, especially as what is established in canon law, which is what makes him a villain. He’s not wrong, but he’s not right either.

As for his more “pure evil” villains, for the love of God, if the fandom doesn’t see a villainous character as pure evil, he doesn’t need to make them worse. Despite how loud a certain portion of the fandom is, it overall was still fairly divided over Kody’s situation. Making a realistic allegory to sexual assault is a very heavy undertaking, and I applaud his desire to want to handle it properly in reference of real life college atmospheres. However, that attempt still failed in the end since about half the fandom didn’t see it as severely as he attempted to make it. Instead of ending this storyline where it seemed to have properly needed to end, he chose to continue it and made Kody be antagonistic where he didn’t need to be in order to make him seem more like an “evil” character. This was not only unnecessary since we already had the Inversion taking place as our major conflict that could break into several smaller conflicts, but it also seemed like a desperate attempt to make up for something he failed to do previously. He should have simply left the plotline alone and forgiven himself for the mistake, learned from where he failed and where he succeeded, and taken that knowledge with him to the next storyline. This same thing goes for incorrectly portraying “good” characters too.

If Redacted decides to have another major event like the Inversion, he needs to remove a major character for it to be impactful. While I would say he should kill them off, he doesn’t necessarily have to if he’s worried about the fandom reaction. Ivan didn’t have to die for his storyline to end. The impact would be heavier if a character died, but he could still “fake” a death and reveal in an Aftershock equivalent that they lived, but there’s some circumstance removing them from the major storyline. I’m not exactly sure if 1500 people can be considered a large or small number since we don’t know how many people were in that situation. However, if it was a large amount, then that number is probably too low, if it was a small amount, then there’s little chance every single major character and listener left that event nearly unscathed.

I said in another post to stop with the “political messages” and I realized later that it wasn’t exactly what I meant to say. Again, venting, my bad. A better way to word it might be “let characters be flawed, make lasting mistakes, suffer consequences for them, and work towards improvement.” He did this more in the beginning, and I genuinely can’t tell you why he might have changed this without making assumptions. In recent history, Redacted has been including talks about consent where they shouldn’t be and immediately covering up any possible conflict between the characters and their listeners. The prime examples I can provide of this, or that made me the most peeved perhaps, are what I added in the list about Geordi and Vincent.

In Geordi’s case, it feels inappropriate to begin his storyline eliminating a potential conflict that would likely be very prevalent with the characters involved. Which for this portion is Geordi and Cutie who’s a telepath. Rather than showcasing the characters and their potential plotline, at least to me it felt like the highlight of his first video was this conversation about “consent” when reading his mind. I’m in no way saying that this is bad, and let me say this for anyone who may happen across this post, I am in no way saying that including discussions about consent or boundaries is a bad thing. It’s more the fact that it was inappropriately placed from a narrative perspective. Anyways, this could have been a building conflict between the two where Cutie kept reading his mind, and maybe even just a video or two down the line, then he comes to them about the consent talk. Redacted could possibly expand on this by having Cutie slip up or put them in situations where they must read Geordi’s thoughts in order to communicate with him when he may not be able to “consent” to it. That could open the door to a major conflict that is readily within reach of the characters and has had prior content to build up to it. In Vincent’s case, Redacted once again threw away an aspect of conflict with Lovely being turned, which was Vincent’s ability to invoke them and lie to them. The king’s ability to remove these being ridiculous aside, this is another situation that could be built on with Vincent learning to control his ability to invoke or simply trying not to lie to Lovely. He could have slipped up in a video where he tells a small lie and apologizes, then tells the full truth. This would have been a much better method of portraying Vincent as caring and trustworthy, and would have probably been more endearing for people to listen to Vincent trying to make Lovely comfortable until telling the truth becomes natural for him. Aside from a conflict where Vincent lies to Lovely about something major happening, such as Quinn hurting Sam or some other major event we may learn about later or through other characters, there’s also the possibility he uses his ability to invoke to save them. The king saved Vincent by forcing him to drink blood, and Vincent could be forced to save Lovely in a similar manner despite his guilt for doing so. It could be making Lovely drink to parallel the moment with Vincent, or it could be something else entirely. Something minor could be making Lovely move if they’re paralyzed in fear, something major could be forcing them to injure or kill someone in self-defense. In both Geordi’s and Vincent’s scenarios, these actions are by no means okay just because their breaking of “consent” or other promises helped someone. That doesn’t mean Cutie or Vincent are villains for taking those actions, they were navigating a situation in a way they best knew how and it got them out of it alive. I’m no expert, but this is how characters, in this case the “good” ones, are generally portrayed as grey. They can still be considered “good” while saving the day in a manner that could be considered “wrong.” Despite my complaints of it, I liken this to Avior’s current situation where he messed up by hiding Starlight’s memory loss from them and is trying his best to explain himself and indirectly promise to better himself from his mistake. (Depending on how Starlight approaches their questioning of him, there’s a 50/50 chance of them forgiving him realistically. If I were in their situation, I would at least need some time away from Avior to think things through, but I again digress.)

These talks of “consent” or being in the “right” have come to my attention specifically because of the inappropriate placement and the elimination of conflict as if to play it safe. I find it difficult to believe that every single vampire in existence has been turned with consent, and delving deeper into that concept opens up a lot of very uncomfortable realities as a result. It’s ludicrous that vampires are somehow absolved of fault by asking a person on the verge of death if they’re willing to completely abandon their old lives in return for having to drink blood, live in the night, and live for eternity, expecting a response made in desperation of survival to be equivalent to consent given with a clear mind. In a way I can understand Sam’s reasoning for having this mindset, and in another I can understand that Lovely is already familiar with the concept of being turned and a vampire’s lifestyle, but these instances don’t come off as characters acting on past experiences or past knowledge. They come off as Redacted saying “consent is important.” Which is a good message, but these situations are far more complicated than simply “obtain consent before doing.”

Similarly, I don’t find Avior calling himself “manipulative” as something that his character would say. He didn’t even seem to act on those past events that happened before Starlight lost their memories to be considered “manipulative”, even from an outside perspective. At most he’s a liar that’s been hiding that fact from them, and that’s how I would expect this character to describe himself as. Maybe this is up for debate, but describing him “manipulating” Starlight as opposed to “lying” to them sounds more like an author’s words than a character that’s in that story, this idea being emphasized by other important but inappropriately placed messages Redacted has made. As for my bit about Frederick’s story being removed, I’ll refrain from talking about the reasoning I mentioned in the list since it’s more of a crude assumption.

Looking over everything again, I can add that if a character has a reliable support system, they shouldn’t be acting like their trauma from 20 years ago happened yesterday. At most, I’ve witnessed people with “resolved” trauma be mildly sensitive to discussing it, and the most sensitive on an “anniversary” of the cause of it. Both Vincent and Sam discussing their trauma sound as if they’ve been alone with no reliable person to help them work through their thoughts and emotions on those events, which makes the king and his clan sound distant and unavailable. The king’s interactions with Vincent as a reliable and supportive mentor, and Vincent and Sam's bond like brothers, feel completely forced when you take into account their reactions to those past events. These topics would undoubtedly have come up at some point and have been talked about with other characters, which would lighten the reaction they would have presently. This is probably the result of certain characters only being added in at a later time, and simply not enough forethought put into how the relationships between these two characters and “background” characters affect how they react to certain past events. In short, a lack of worldbuilding. This is still something Redacted could keep in mind for the future though.

For the last point I believe is a major aspect of Redacted’s to improve, here’s my thoughts on Darlin’s story. It boils down to the fact that Darlin’ in their story is constantly chastised and has their agency removed from them. Them hunting down Quinn’s scent is revealed to be a “blood bond” outside of their control. Sam chastised them for acting on their own and getting hurt as a result, and proceeded to chastise them for not having any food, or otherwise being bad at self-care. (This might be more of a personal opinion, but that particular video felt more to me like Sam was scolding a disobedient teenager than showing passive-aggressive affection for a potential love interest. You can imagine how uncomfortable I felt with the rest of those videos.) David and Sam’s follow-up conversation did not progress Darlin’ and Sam’s relationship. David then chastised Darlin’ for acting on their own and seemed to make it more about himself and the pack than about Darlin’, which again robs Darlin’ of their agency and puts their actions in a bad light. Another way I can put this is that there’s no middle ground conversation for Darlin’s behavior, it’s only them being punished for it like a misbehaving child and they don’t do it again. (Similar to how Bright Eyes was constantly put down with no middle ground, but their storyline was removed before their conflict could be expanded on.) There are no opportunities for Darlin’ to look powerful or independent that aren’t put down by other characters, which renders them being portrayed as horribly incompetent instead.

From a writing standpoint and not an emotional one, this plotline is a train wreck. I would say it’s up to par with other ASMR videos, which render listeners incredibly stupid and lacking any sort of agency, but I expect more from Redacted given every other listener he’s created. While not entirely in control, they still have a good amount of control over their narratives, which makes them more solid as individual characters. The fact that the fandom still takes away the idea that Darlin’ is powerful I would chalk up to their fascination with the idea of the character, and the emotional “manipulation” of hearing the characters’ voices, which is a far different experience from analyzing the story writing itself. I will admit, Redacted is a fairly good voice actor.

As for all my other points, I would say those are more trial and error mistakes that could be fixed as he went along, or otherwise tie back into my points above. I will add that the fandom certainly puts a lot of words into Redacted’s mouth, and more often than not are those words entirely obscured. Trying to dig for the truth doesn’t help my frustration with him, especially as he continues to make very questionable writing choices, but it’s not his fault his fandom lacks the ability to critically engage with his content. It is his fault for encouraging it.

I will say at least, that regardless of my personal opinion of him as a person (that being, he doesn’t exactly come off as someone I would find pleasant to be around), he has a lot of potential as a writer. If anyone sends this his way out of malice against me, include this sort of tl;dr message: Redacted has written a lot of mediocre but fun moments and a lot of great ones too. He’s got the potential to be a fantastic writer, and he’s got great ideas that could be shaped into a very memorable world. However, he’s only hindering himself by cutting out conflicts, doubling down on portrayals of “good” and “evil” characters, and playing it safe seemingly out of fear that his writing would be taken the wrong way. I believe even the most visceral reactions outside my own have assumed the best intentions from him, and I think he needs to similarly forgive himself for his mistakes, learn from them, and continue on while still taking risks and trusting in his own vision. If he finds himself written into a corner or his portrayals go the wrong way, he needs to either work with what he’s made or try to conclude it the best he can and try again with another story. Using retcons and cure-alls will not help him grow as a writer, and writing only fluff will hamper the impact of any major events that come in the future, nor will the actions of characters in those events likely make any narrative sense.

On a more personal note, he doesn’t have to be so concerned about “torturing” his fans with plot. He should be well aware that his fans are sensitive to all of his content, and over-exaggerate a lot of their reactions whether out of being frankly ridiculous, or just generally having an excited outburst from their enjoyment. While I won’t tell him to not be careful with his content, he can absolutely write impactful stories with gritty conflicts without being grim and dark all the time. Just look at the roots of his channel. There is a way to satisfy both people who want an actual plot and people who want a comfortable set of videos to relax to. However, he has to build up to those stories for that impact to be real. I’d say that he does drop bits of lore in his videos, and has done bits of foreshadowing here and there, and that’s just a skill that needs to be worked on to be perfected. That being said, he needs to stop expecting perfection from himself every time.

Redacted. If you won’t take it from the people who worship the ground you walk on, then take it from the crankiest person in this fandom: you do not need to be perfect. I’m not mad that he fails, I’m mad that he’s continuing to fail and sabotaging his own efforts. If he’s that concerned, then he should find people to critique his writing. Not people close to him or anyone from the fandom either, as that’s basically recruiting yes-men which, politely, he does not need. If he keeps trying to walk on eggshells, he will attract an audience that requires and expects that from him constantly, and no one can withstand the immense pressure that places on them forever.

This has gone on far too long. I’ve been writing this post too long and I probably missed some things too. As you can see, there’s a lot I’ve been wanting to say, and I just want to personally sit down with Mr. Redacted and hand him a mug that says “World’s Okayest Writer” and maybe on the back it says “for now.” Anyways. I’m done. If you need me to elaborate or actually talk about future events, anons are open. I’ll try my best to be civilized. Goodbye.

#i need a nap

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science-lings · 3 years

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Happy ace awareness week! Again I’m going to be drawing characters that I headcanon as ace but this time I’m also taking requests! Send me some ace characters to draw and I might draw them!

#if you’ve seen me post about the fandom I’ll draw it and even if I don’t post about it I might draw it anyway #just send me ace characters to draw!

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aftergloom · 2 years

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Not sure if you've already answered something like this, but how do you think the Nightbrothers celebrate death? What kind of beliefs do you think they would have on where spirits go afterwards (if they go anywhere)? What colours do they represent loss with? 😌

So… death studies are my jam outside of fandom, right? I feel like I might’ve mentioned that once or twice. As “hobbies” go, this is my thing: ancient and contemporary commemorative practices, mythologies surrounding death, and associated beliefs.

When you held this question out to me, cupped in the palms of your hands, perhaps you didn’t know what you signed up for, and I’ll try not to get too deep. But I can’t answer it without talking about the cosmovision of the Star Wars universe and its dualities, or even George Lucas’ real world “influences”, of which there are many that have been documented, and several which we’d need to speculate on to offer an informed answer.

Similarly, you can’t talk about the Nightbrothers in this context without talking about the belief systems of their oppressors, whose dominant worldview might’ve affected and traditions and beliefs brought over from Iridonia.

You came here for a headcanon, but with regrets, you’ve opened a floodgate.

Let’s do this, shall we?

From Ancient Iridonia, to Dathomir

We know Lucas appropriated a bunch of different real-world traditions and mythologies to build the overarching Star Wars cosmovision (dualities of light and dark, the cosmic and living Force, etc.) many of them from East Asian cultures, and the dubious backstory for Dathomirian Zabrak involves a diaspora from their homeworld and their subsequent enslavement to the dominant species in place on Dathomir (Nightsisters), who already had a cosmovision of their own, and gods, and a relationship with the Force that is unlike anything else we've seen in the SW universe that has ties to both totemic and sympathetic magic, and given what we know of how they use the ichor, the Nightsisters relationship with death is very different from, let's say, the Jedi, who are very much of a mindset that through right action and applied ritual, you can come back from the afterlife in service to your lineage.

But let's start at the beginning, 'cause I went and did some poking around specifically with the intention of trying to discover what beliefs might’ve been brought over with those early Nightbrothers from Iridonia, if anything...

Nightbrothers, Commemorative Customs, and a Cosmovision

A few things ancient Iridonian Zabrak believed in, as accumulated from this reddit post (which lacks explicit references to where this information was drawn from. In their comments, they cite the Galactic Campaign Guide? I've been looking for citations and I've thus far come up empty-handed, but I'm still open to considering this stuff, esp. since OP is explicitly stating what's headcanon and what's not in their post):

To summarize, Iridonian Zabrak may have held belief in the following, with annotations:

Death Goddess Sisters (Nath and Ath) who guard the Zabrak afterlife, "The Lands of Plenty": Interesting that there's a reverence for two sisters and not the brother-sister-husband-wife partnership among death gods that we're used to (Isis and Osiris = The Daughter and Son of Mortis, for example)

A creatrix deity (Gith) who could create tons of food: We know Iridonia was an arid planet that suffered numerous wars through inter-clan fighting, so it sounds like scarcity in their day to day lives might have been a contributing factor to a cosmovision incorporating a halcyon, abundant afterlife.

Shamans (Sang): Suggests they also had intercessors for their faith. The quote says the Shamans oversaw their rituals for marriage and funerals, but the extent of that spiritual leadership is unknown, so I can only speculate that since the Nightbrothers demonstrate such affinity for their rites of passage and proving their worth as warriors, those traditions draw from old Iridonian customs too, and that they had spiritual guides on their journey.

We also know that ancient Zabrak were tied to the Sith Empire, became their warriors, fought alongside them, accepted Sith indoctrination if they were Force-sensitive, etc. So I expect there might’ve been, at some point, some adoption of the Sith beliefs intermingling with the core values of Iridonian Zabrak (because concepts of power and dominion would likely resonate with them.) There wouldn't be, however, I don't think, a universally-accepted singular faith. I think there were probably many, as well as offshoots and various sects -- which is true of Force-sensitive practitioners and believers: in Legends at least, there are tons more than just the Jedi and Sith; some who see it as faith and others who use it as magic and others still that are recognized cults and crime syndicates. *cough* BANDO GORA *cough*

And if you remember from that episode in the Clone Wars where Yoda visits Moraband and encounters the spirits of the ancient Sith buried in the Valley of the Dark Lords, they tell him that there's nothing after life. "You will die, and be nothing." And what does that say about their outlook and ambitions, you know? If there's nothing afterwards, and the only thing that echoes in eternity is your name (like Darth Bane, for example) then the things that consume you also fuel your ambitions. There's an immediacy to it that I think is interesting. Power and fear, right? It's a twisted sort of glory.

But similarly, it's not the sort of hopeful outlook you find in cultures that have endured hardship and suffering. It doesn't wholly jive with a "lands of plenty" hopeful mentality that acknowledges that the living situation ain't great and that it'll be better in the afterlife.

The Nightsisters and the Hoodoo that They Do

Meanwhile, on Dathomir, you've got a bunch of newly minted Nightbrothers looking at the Nightsisters' tree burial practices, and you maybe find yourself in the unfortunate position one time to see a sister resurrected from the dead, and the way you see the universe and your place in it is likely gonna shift a bit.

A few things of note regarding the Nightsisters' cosmovision:

Winged Goddess and Fanged God is a concept of divinity rooted in male/female binary and plays into the overarching Star Wars "duality as giant-ass part of the cosmovision" because these deities are also representative of Light and Dark aspects of the Force; they're linked to the Gods of Mortis, who... are up to who knows what. Fighting for balance or something. The epic equivalent of the Zoroastrian struggle between celestial divinities duking it out in the cosmos to achieve dominance over the other.

The ichor = the power = the Force. Confusing to me, still, because the nature of the ichor suggests that it is neither light nor dark and how its aligned is governed by what its used for, but the Sisters get billed as Dark Side practitioners so often that I start questioning whether Lucasfilm needed to ascribe some value to them to run a 1:1 with whatever culture they "borrowed" from. It looks a lot like pop-culturized Haitian Voodoo at times with the poppet magic, and the possession, and the zombification and resurrection (but not in any way that respectfully suggests what Voodoo actually looks like.) And others, I'm looking at the architecture and seeing some serious ancient Egyptian references, and a little Nabatean too. (And if you really want to start digging deeper, let me point out the pyramids used in ancient Sith architecture for their tombs and educational academies and holocrons, or the handy-dandy sacrificial chamber beneath the tomb of Darth Bane that suggests inspiration from ancient Aztec practices of sacrifice. Yeah, they were killing Jedi down there, just saying.)

There is a hierarchy to Nightsister burial: there are tombs with giant faces carved into them inside the mountain, and there are the burial pods out on the gravethorn groves dangling like macabre Christmas ornaments stuffed with their warriors. Who are the important people buried in those tombs, and what are they buried with? Because if the girls out in the pods are buried with their weapons, you can guess at what they're taking with them into their afterlife, or their in-between place, and you know that the function they served in life is the same that they'll serve in death. I'd speculate that the clan mothers and elders are in the tombs, probably with their books and special talismans, and I would bet that the elders have a means of communicating with them through the ichor because all of this smacks of ancestral worship to boot.

Sometimes They Come Back. 👀

To your question: What do the Nightbrothers believe in with respects to death, the afterlife, and their customs?

I would propose the following, based on what we've just observed:

The cosmovision of the Nightbrothers is one that seeks to preserve the essence of the beliefs in a better afterlife brought with them from ancient Iridonia, that acknowledges their current situation on Dathomir under the rule of the Nightsisters is temporary, and that there is an understanding that while they are far from where they've come from, they will one day be returned what they've lost -- if they demonstrate those values that Zabrak have held for millennia:

Strength. Honour. And the courage to withstand even the harshest circumstances.

In the world that awaits them, they will find their kin and company in a land of abundance where the waters run clean and the skies are clear; their young are never parted from their mothers' arms, and their brothers never have to fight one another to prove themselves, unless it is to each other for their amusement.

There are no horrors there, and the dead can find their rest and know peace. There is no fear that their bodies might be desecrated, used in death as they were in life to fight for a cause that was never theirs and that they never believed in; that they gave their lives for over and over because it was called of them without question and in perfect submission.

And all those stories, whispered amongst brothers about the heroes that came before them are remembered, their names spoken aloud and with reverence, unafraid of who might overhear who might lay claim to their lineage, their brothers, their fathers, their faces. There will be no one to silence them again. None will ever be forgotten.

And in the dark hours, where lanterns were lit quietly in shaded corners with the curtains drawn, and the little effigies of those known as Brother were revered as family and clan because no one could recall who was blood kin and who was not, all were banded together with the understanding that someday soon, they would never be parted again. Prayers are offered now to the old Sisters at the Gates to keep their dead, but also to the new gods -- because they've seen the Fanged God walking their dreams, and the brothers know his strength. It's as real as the Force that binds them. He's a living thing that makes the shadows breathe when they take nightblossom or mushling seed to induce visions.

Someday soon, there would be no need to whisper, or to pile stones on the cairns where they put their dead in the ground as if to hide the lives that had been taken: No markers. No memorials. No names etched into stones in hydratis acid and turned over so that the Nightsisters might know who was buried there as if they could exploit them. That's why they chose to make cairns and barrows for the brothers, you see: because when you put heavy things on top of the bodies, they can't rise to the call of the witches' magic. They stay where you put them.

And as for the colours of the dead, there is only one: white for the palest star above. A marker for the way home in all that dark.

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theslowesthnery · 3 years

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alright, let me show you guys some perfectly Normal and Moral people from one (!) of the callout posts about me

may i remind you, this is all over some damn drawings of a baby minotaur drawing with chalk

above, people who are really telling on themselves by seeing something uncomfortable and suspicious in art that is just...not

you know what the “context” of the art is? sometimes i think “hmm, i wonder what my fave character looked like as a child? omg i wanna draw that”. i did it when i was in the naruto fandom, and i did it when i was in the undertale fandom. and especially in the case of asterius whose life was Fucking Garbage and who never had a chance at a good, happy life, i wanted to imagine what his childhood might’ve been like, if maybe he had at least some happy childhood moments, if maybe there was someone who loved him before it all went to shit (and also since he’s so big, i thought the idea of him having been a tiny babbu was fuckin’ adorable). also, kids put stuff in their mouth, animals put stuff in their mouth, so i figured a human/animal hybrid baby would try to taste stuff they’re unfamiliar with even more so. there’s your “gross” and “horrible” context. and you’re seeing sexualization in that. that’s literally all you, all in your own brains. your minds are so hopelessly fucking warped that it would be sad if you weren’t insistent on treating other people like shit because *you* saw something sexual in an entirely sfw, non-sexual, pure and wholesome drawings of a child doing child things

as someone with no interest in children, fictional or real, i find it immensely concerning that your mind jumps into imagining child rape with such ease, requiring literally no prompting. that is creepier and more concerning than anything i could ever draw

the usual from the Normal and Moral crowd

god do you guys have any idea what it’s like for someone with very bad self-esteem problems to see people who hate their guts and want them dead go “noooo why is their art so good”

pictured, me rolling in this validation like

“pedophilic ships”?? mf where? words just don’t mean anything to you guys anymore, do they

also cute hadesgame-related user name! thanatos and zagreus are adopted brothers, achilles and patroclus are cousins, and hades married his cousin’s daughter! you’re supporting a game with incest in it, based on greek myths that have even more incest in them!

here’s your award for the dumbest goddamn take i have legit ever seen 🏆

huh, here i thought it was about protecting minors 🤔🤔🤔 (just kidding, i’ve never seen a single anti say deny that it’s about the harassment)

now why wouldn’t i want people like the previous person or the people a couple of screenshots up who are wishing for my death or the anon telling me that *checks notes* they hope my firstborn is raped and has their genitals sliced off interacting with me 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 certainly seems sus

there’s a pandemic and some people are disabled, karen

imagine seeing a drawing made by someone who you think is a pedophile and going “i’m gonna trace and repost that :)” head empty, no values or morals, only thirst for clout

i haven’t drawn porn in like. two or three whole years

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND EVERYONE ELSE, IT’S TIME FOR SUS CHALK

hey, a familiar face! thing is, i never said i don’t want to incest shippers to interact me, what i said was that i don’t want my non-incest drawings of siblings be tagged as incest, because A) it makes me super uncomfortable, and B) it leads to people like *gestures to the entire post* to send me death threats for being a disgusting fontcest shipper when all i drew was brotherly pictures of skelebros. idgaf what people ship lmao, i just don’t want my art tagged incorrectly and to be harassed because of it. also i’ve been open and vocal about being proship for literal years

“oh i know them, they shipped [ship i have literally never shipped and which i am uncomfortable enough with to blacklist]” yeah you sure know me lmao

oh no, not an A-A-A-ADULT 😱😱😱 guess who else is an adult? toby fox, and everyone who worked on not only undertale but every single piece of entertainment you’re consuming. this site? made by adults. the internet? made by adults. the person who created that callout post? adult. and so will you be, too, and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it

awww hell yeah, i officially have a Proship Artstyle™ that makes antis uncomfortable 🤘

i have no idea what this person is trying to say ngl. is...being thirsty for asterius (have you seen him?) and liking theseus bad and cause of suspicion now? well shit, i have some very bad news for A LOT of people in the hades fandom

do you guys like...not understand the difference between children and adults? just because an adult is romantically or sexually interested in another adult does not mean they would fuck the child version of that person. if a person sees a photo of their crush or significant other as a child and goes “aw, cute”, does that make them a pedophile in your book?

i was here first, bud, you leave if you hate it here so much

i don’t even want to know what’s going on in the reblogs of that post. all this over a drawing of a baby minotaur playing with chalk

remember when being a pedophile required a sexual attraction to children? not anymore, these days pedophile is literally just anything and anyone you don’t like, and you don’t need any evidence to call people that! the more you know!

mmmm look at alllll that delicious ageism. i’ll never stop being amused by kids who think repeating information about myself i’ve freely chosen to display on my very public bio is some kinda “gotcha”. newsflash, buttercups - you too will be 30 and over one day. you’re not immune to aging, but sure, keep shitting in the pool you’ll eventually all be swimming. unless, of course, you’ve already decided to be absolutely miserable and joyless once you hit 30, to which all i can say is “couldn’t be me 💅“

also if you hate people over 30 so much, put your money where your mouths are and stop consuming content made by people over thirty. and i don’t mean just fan content, i mean everything: music, movies, comics, video games, cartoons, everything that was made by those gross 30+ year olds. create your own content, your own sites (ao3 is explicitly anti-censorship and anti-harassment, in other words pro-shipping and pro-fiction, so you guys better not be reading or posting any fics there), your own shows and games, see how that works out

#fandom discourse cw #anti discourse cw #and all the things that come with it #long post #(under readmore tho)

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rantrambles · 3 years

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Ever get so upset you make a Tumblr account to vent?

I haven’t even listened to The Penumbra Podcast yet but it’s on my list because it’s insanely popular and the cosplays I’ve seen are hot as hell (A+ to all the cosplayers I’ve seen you’ve done great work). Now, with the recent news surrounding the podcast, I’ll wait till it’s done if I ever do get into it. I’m Asian and part of the LGBT community but I’m not nonbinary so I can’t say much about the trans represention in the art but I wanted to add my two cents on the matter as a person of color and someone examining the situation from the outside. Also, before I get deeply into it, I’m not the only person of color with opinions on this matter so if people have their own frustrations and criticism with the racism in The Penumbra Podcast and/or the new artist they hired, definitely listen to them too. These are my own personal opinions, and I’m sure other people will disagree and that’s fine. We’re all going to have different views on this so bear that in mind. Also, feel free to correct me or add anything if I’ve missed some information. Here’s a great breakdown of the whole situation for those that don’t know what happened. Finally, I was very hesitant to post this, but I felt it was important because I make a statement at the end on how race should be presented in a podcast format so if you are interested in making a podcast and want to have a diverse range of characters, please skip to the end to read those thoughts.

I’ll start off by saying, I’m not even that upset with the new artist that The Penumbra Podcast hired. I know that statement alone is controversial but I don't personally know them, and I’m not going to judge who they are as a person by a few pieces of art they’ve made. They are the least of the problems that I have here. Since the announcement and the backlash, I’ve been scrolling through the artist’s Instagram account and I can tell why people find the designs offensive, but I’m also comparing the designs to the artist’s other work, and I honestly believe that’s just their style. They’ve exaggerated the features of just about every character they’ve made, regardless of race or gender. From what I’ve seen the sharp angles and overly round curves in the anatomy that make some of the character’s features more jarring are how they prefer to draw. I’m sure they’re capable of drawing more realistic proportions but for the most part they’re art aims to call attention, be bold, and create distinguished features. Not inherently a bad thing on its own.

And yeah I’d understand the issue if this were a scenario where the artist heard how these characters acted in the podcast and thought “hey, obviously this character is a black woman because they are super strong and therefore must have big muscles, no other woman could look like that” or “hey, this character has to be Asian because they act super seductive sometimes better draw them as such.” But from my understanding the race was already decided by previous official artists and a general description of the characters were already generated by the audience, similar to how The Magnus Archives leaned towards drawing scrawny Jon with black, greying hair and dark skin. The new artists couldn’t really change those features even if those features aren’t described in canon because a depiction that strayed too far from popular fandom interpretation would make the character’s unrecognizable to the fanbase.

I think the reason this became such a big issue for most people is because the new Penumbra artist used their exaggerated art style when making these characters and people of color and nonbinary folks already see themselves drawn as these exaggerated caricatures all the time (with those images being used to further discriminate against them). I’m sure the artist didn’t mean for their art to be offensive, but that of course doesn’t change how it was received.

According to some, the poses and expressions the artists chose did not fully represent the characters entirely and only served to further perpetuate harmful stereotypes, and I’ll have to take their word for it because I still haven’t listened to the podcast so I have no idea how the characters act. But again much of the criticism is based on the one line-up and doing a deeper dive into the artist’s work I managed to find artwork that was much less offensive. Here some art where Vespa is depicted in a non-violent pose and one where Vespa is in a threatening pose but not an overly violent one. Here is Peter drawn in a non-seductive pose. Hopefully, the artist truly does keep the criticisms in mind as they work on the new official art. I’m just not the type of person that wants to get the pitchforks out and cause this particular person to lose a job they seemed really excited about over their old character line-up, especially when that person is also part of a marginalized group.

Again, that’s just my opinion on that particular artist. Those who are offended by their art are still valid in how they feel, and the artist should absolutely take their criticism to heart to better how they represent the characters.

What I’m more upset about is that I think The Penumbra Podcast should never have released official art for their characters in the first place and that’s their mistake that they refuse to own up about. They have made it clear that the story was never meant to portray characters of colors, a fact emphasized by the fact they hired mostly white actors from the start. They only started releasing art of the characters to get a profit. And the thing is they know what they did was wrong. All I had to do was search Penumbra Podcast racism and there is a note on their website saying that they archived some old official art.

“We have discontinued all Penumbra merchandise that uses the original character designs, and in the meantime, any profits on the sales of that merchandise will go to the For The Gworls project. We also realize that the depiction of these characters as POC, while not appropriate for us to use in our marketing and merchandise, has nonetheless become personally meaningful to many POC listeners. For that reason, and because we do not wish to distance ourselves from our mistake, we are keeping these images on our website for archival purposes. Though we do want to make it clear that many of the main/featured voice actors are white and that we did not write the characters to represent any specific POC experience, you are, as always, free to imagine these characters in any way that you like.”

I went to their shop and they still sell posters and pins with the character’s faces on them, but they are donating it to a good cause so hopefully that stays the same. However, I still find it a little uncomfortable that they are still selling character merch and have plans to continue selling character merch. They have no right to dissuade the fans that already found representation in the characters, but they also have no right to profit off the representation that was built, regardless if they made the story.

Let’s compare this to another piece of popular media. I love Avatar the Last Airbender and, I liked the ATLA voice actors just fine but there should have been more people of color doing voice acting behind the screen too. The voice actors for that show were mainly white too, however, the creators knew that they would be making poc characters. That’s what makes the difference. Did they still choose to go with mostly white voice actors? Yes. Could they have done better and pay more people of color? Also yes. But I’m not as furious at them because they did their research on the cultures they were basing the ATLA world off of and intentionally gave us a show where Asians could see characters that looked like them represented on the screen. The Penumbra Podcast did not do any of that. Again, they openly admitted that it was never their intention to make the character’s people of color when they made the podcast so that goes to show no research was made to properly represent specific cultures. The color of the character’s skin in their official designs therefore became more of aesthetic choice rather than representation, and it wasn’t even their aesthetic choice to begin with!

Race isn’t a color you can just throw onto the character because you feel like it. So I want this to be a lesson to anyone that wants to make a podcast: if you want to include poc characters please do some research into the cultures you plan to represent the way you would with any other form of media. Just because the audience can’t see the characters and just because it’s harder to smoothly introduce the character’s appearance doesn’t mean you’re allowed to be lazy on how you present the characters. Do research before you start writing the first episode and take the time to hire poc actors. Hiring poc actors is actually the least that can be done to show representation. Also, since the audience cannot visually see the race of the characters on a podcast and it can’t typically be described the way you would in a book, you’ll have to be creative. It’s not my job to say how, but my suggestions would be, before the fans come up with their own image of the character, you need to establish race in the first few episodes or release character profiles on a website so that the fans know you canonically intended the characters to be of a certain race even if you aren’t able to mention it in the actual podcast. If you are unwilling to do any of these then the best route is to avoid stating race at all and allow the audience to build their own representation into your form of media. However, once this happens, you are not allowed to profit off popular fan interpretations. You lose all rights to create official art or images of the characters. You cannot use “we have a diverse cast of characters” when you market your story. It doesn’t matter whether you created the content or not, you did not create the representation for those minority groups.

It’s one thing for fans to build their own inclusivity into a form of art like a podcast, but it’s another thing for the creators who never worked to make the representation happen to take advantage of the representation that the listeners built for themselves. Thank you for attending my TedTalk.

#the penumbra podcast #podcast #race #the magnus archives #diversity in podcasts #diversity #tpp #tpp fanart

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shirophantomvox · 3 years

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Analyzing Kars' Character

Hello everyone! FYI I am not ignoring your requests. I have tried for a week to get them finished and I keep losing motivation. Then I had the brilliant idea of writing something else about an interesting topic and then I’ll be able to finish a few requests! Today’s post is another character analysis. This is still a multi-fandom blog; you will see content related to other shows besides Voltron. Today’s character analysis is on Kars, the 10,000-year-old vampire. That’s funny. He, Allura, and Coran are the same age!

Overview

I watched JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures about a month ago when I became frustrated that there were only 4 seasons of Hunter x Hunter on Netflix. Remember the scene in the election arc when the citizens were casting their votes for chairperson and Hisoka walked up with his arms forming an “S”? Many people were posing the question of it being a “JoJo’s” reference and for the life of me, I never understood what they were talking about. Finally, I watched the show for the first time and by season 2 I could understand what they were saying.

I have to admit that by the second episode I was bored because the nature of season one took place in the 1800s England and nothing exciting happened. Though I worked my way through a few more episodes. I noticed a creepy stone mask on the way and how it never fell unless blood was splattered on it. I concluded the mask was going to play the role of an antagonist or help the antagonist succeed. Although this post is about Kars, I would like to take a moment and say that Jonathan’s death was very heart wrenching and it made me angry. Jonathan was unnecessarily nice to Dio and living in a privileged bubble lead to his demise. Jonathan was stronger than Dio and he should have kicked his ass once and for all. Have you noticed that after Joseph’s father, all JoJo’s (at least until season 5) could beat the antagonist in the show?

Anyway, the mask is a key tool in the bizarre adventures that each protagonist experiences.

Kars is a 10,000-year-old vampire that designed the Stone Mask and is essentially responsible for the horrific events that have happened throughout history. Dio being turned into a merciless vampire and his minions resulted from the Stone Mask. After discovering that he and his people could not be out in the sun, he concluded he needed the Red Stone of Aja to complete his transformation. Lisa-Lisa, a 50-year-old human woman, has possession of the stone given by her foster father Straizo. Kars, along with the 3 remaining Pilar Men (Wamuu, Esidsi, and Santana, can only survive in the sun if they two wear the mask with the Red Stone of Aja. After awakening, it is quite clear that Kars is on a mission to retrieve the stone and will destroy anything in his way. He was the only one wanting to live a life outside of the darkness. This was the driving force of creating so many Stone Masks and later discovering the need for the Red Stone of Aja. Kars understood the mask would only work on him partially because of his larger skull size, aka body manipulation. This created an increase in hunger. The Pillar Men did not like this at all and sought to eliminate him so he could not ruin the flow of nature. Kars retaliated; he murdered 99% of his people only leaving his friend Esidsi, and two children known as Santana and Wamuu.

Kars’ character is very interesting. A dog was about to have its life ended because of drunk drivers. I don’t know if this struck a nerve in his soul, but Kars nearly cut off the driver’s head, causing them to crash their car and the puppy was saved. After being defeated by Joseph the first time, he landed at the end of a snowy cliff, making sure he did not land on a few daisies. Given these unique interactions with nature and secondary species, Kars has some vendetta against humans. What did they do to him or his people for him to care only about flowers and animals but want to wipe out Harmon users? He insists that Lisa-Lisa drink poison instead of fighting her. Fighting women is something he and Wamuu don’t take pleasure in doing. When I heard this for the first time, I didn’t know if that was something to be proud of or if he was being misogynistic (you know the stereotypical view society has about women). Even if he genuinely did not want to lay a finger on Lisa-Lisa or any woman, his intentions are very questionable. He mimics politeness. If Kars offered to pay for dinner or a drink, run. Just run because if you don’t, you’ll probably be turned into a vampire or be eaten alive.

This is off topic but I wanted to pose this scenario. After watching Battle Tendency for the 10th time, I always like to bring out the “soft” side in villains. Being a sucker for Fluff isn’t helpful. I know that’s defeating the purpose of villains and antagonists, but I can’t help and wonder how it would show in Kars. As I’ve previously stated, Kars seems to care for animals and plants more than humans...so there’s a soft spot somewhere in there. I had a rather amusing and odd thought involving Kars and Lisa-Lisa. Since Lisa-Lisa is the leader over Caesar and Joseph and Kars is the leader over the remain few Pillar Men, I can’t help but wonder how they’d react to each other. When Lisa-Lisa is ordered by Kars to stay at their hideout while Joseph retrieved the Stone, I know she didn’t stand there like a statue for nearly 12 hours. I imagine Kars offering a drink, water, or juice just to get her talking. I mean, she has to warm up to him or it’s going to be a horrible 12 hours. Then he’ll try to engage in conversation and will only try to flirt with her to see how she responds. He may make a comment about how clear her skin is, how perfect her makeup stays intact, or how her legs look better than his (well, duh, you’re 9,950 years older than her!). This way, he can exploit anything he deems as a weakness, but she is a smart woman. She would reveal nothing about her that could be used against her. As OOC as this seems, it could be something he’d do. Remember, he mimics politeness; he has a trick up his sleeve. Although that may be true, at the back of his mind, he really admires how young and enchanting she looks.

Although Esidsi, Wamuu, and Santana are Pillar Men, they are ancient humanoid superhuman beings who lived on the American continent. They have supernatural abilities that leave them invincible while the sun is down. They look similar to humans, but they are much bigger and muscular. Among the 3 remaining Pillar Men, I seem to gravitate to Kars than the others. Before you judge me, I’ll explain. Kars, like many male characters in this anime and others, has a unique character design. Contrary to popular belief, I like Kars better in his head wrap or while he is wearing his hat and cape. That outfit reminds me of a ghost/monster from the remastered Scooby-Doo series in the 70s. The one thing in particular that stood out to me was his eye shadow and mascara. The earrings didn’t surprise me as every time I draw my male characters, they automatically get a pair of earrings. While being physically fit, he can make ANYTHING look excellent!

Just like any villain, Kars and Joseph are equally arrogant and can exploit their opponent’s weaknesses against them. Making jokes about Lisa-Lisa while she is unconscious nearly sets him over the edge and while Kars thinks he has defeated Joseph, he is launched into space.

Last but not least, I noticed how the first two protagonists form an unusual bond with their enemies. As many of you have seen, Dio calls Jonathan JoJo but does not acknowledge Joseph or Jotaro in the same way. He does twice towards Jotaro but not after that. Kars refers to Joseph as JoJo and I have to believe that even if he knew his real name, he’d still refer to him as JoJo. Wamuu stated that fighting Jospeh was worth his time as he did not waste it and fight fairly. Throughout their battles, they somehow remind me of childish games with the name-calling and all. I wish Kars was not a “onetime” villain. I wish he could roll over to the next season. This is a preference, as I hate seasonal villains, like Chrollo Lucilfer or anyone similar.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading!

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koutarouthighs · 3 years

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『 champagne bubbles 』

S U M M A R Y ― drunken words expose sober thoughts, and what do these boys have to say when their heart is too soaked in liquor to dull their filter?

post type ➺ headcanons fandom ➺ haikyuu!! characters ➺ tsukishima ⧾ kageyama ⧾ atsumu genre ➺ fluff; slight nsfw (sensual themes) tags ➺ established relationship; alcohol; language; pda; lotsa touchy drunk boys; word count ➺ 2.2k+ request ➺ [YES/NO] ; anonymous requested “could you maybe write drunk!tsukki being really sweet to his gf? like calling her pretty and being super sweet?” ↳ request status: *.·:·.✧ O P E N ✧.·:·.*

✕ tsukki doesn’t really like to get drunk, because he’s more of a spectator. he enjoys watching everyone else lose their wits so he can poke fun at them for it, sarcastically asking them a dozen questions just to video their answers to bring it up when they’re sober. ✕ but, with kuroo betting tsukki that he can drink him under the table, his obstinate personality has no option other than to meet his old friend’s challenge. what he doesn’t know is that kuroo never planned to win, not even from the start. ✕ when you see tsukki later, you’re confused with his wobbling frame and garbled words. his eyes seem to cross behind his glasses, and when he approaches you, he’s got his arm around your shoulders in a flash. you’ve never seen him be so publicly affectionate, especially not in front of a group full of his old friends who knew him once as an antagonistic rival. ✕ tsukishima compliments your appearance, your voice, your dress. he talks about how lucky he is to have you and you swear you see his reddened eyes begin to blear with tears. ✕ his hands cannot find a part of you he does not wish to explore further, always seeking but never finding solace. and finally he cups your cheeks and sloppily kisses your mouth, and you are so frozen in your stead that you do not have half a mind to kiss him back.

more below the cut ↯

⧾

“you’re just so pretty,” his voice drawls, eyes blinking slowly as he uses the arm not slung around your body to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. the slightest of pouts tugs on his lips and you want to push yourself up on your toes to kiss him, but you know how he feels about public affection.

a small laugh makes your chest blossom and tsukishima tugs you closer, your body engulfed by his lanky yet thick arms. his bicep flexes as he runs his index and thumb against either side of your neck, “you are! i know i don’t tell you enough, but you are. you’re the prettiest girl i’ve ever seen.”

“kei,” you murmur as he drops his head to your shoulder, planting a quick kiss to your exposed collarbone. kuroo and akaashi widen their eyes at the sight, and you try to weave your fingers through tsukishima’s hair to get his attention, “kei, are you drunk?”

“yep!” kuroo’s voice is unmistakable, even from where he and akaashi, and now bokuto, are sitting in the kitchen, swiveling in their barstool seats, giggling to themselves. you narrow your eyes and hope that the glare you cut them is enough to not let them sucker him into anything like this again, knowing how much he will hate finding out about this when he’s sober.

“we can go home,” you murmur in promise against his neck, pressing a kiss to his cheek before settling back on your heels. tsukishima kisses the top of your head and wraps you back up again, tucking your head beneath his chin. he sighs, and you feel his chest deflate, “no, i like going out with you. i know i say i hate it, but i like that you want the world to know that you’re mine.”

you tilt your head back, raising a brow, “tsukki, i’m not ashamed of you. never have been.”

“no, i know,” he almost sounds stone cold sober for a second, and you blink to try and make sure you can reconcile what you’re hearing with what you’re seeing. “i just hope you know that i’m not ashamed of you. you’re kickass, and i can’t believe you let me call you mine.”

“of course,” and you feel your own voice growing heady without the influence of whiskey, “i love you.”

tsukishima, drunk or not, reaches down to frame your face with his hands and as if in slow motion, purses his mouth until you feel the bow of his lips meet your own. you flex your feet so you’re up on your toes, face heated at the sudden display of affection, disregard to who might see. his palms are expansive and warm, floating from your neck to your shoulders, down your arms until he finds the curve of your hips. his thumbs slip beneath the hem of your shirt and he sighs, parting his mouth from yours, “tell sober me to appreciate you more. he’s kind of an asshole.”

“yeah,” you lick your lips and read the hunger in his eyes, matching it with a fire in your own, “i’ll make sure to tell him in the morning.”

✕ kageyama believes that alcohol dulls the senses and takes his mind off of what is truly important - the next match. so, it’s kind of difficult to get him to indulge in a drink from time to time. but hinata always manages to spur him on, citing his days in brazil have made him the better consumer, and kageyama just can’t let that redhead best him at anything. ✕ you wish you had the effort to try and deter him from it, but watching kageyama turn loose and enjoy his time with his friends is so elating in it of itself that you don’t have the heart to try and drag him to a glass of water. ✕ your face goes red when kageyama puts down his fourth glass of rum and coke and turns his attention to you. eyes sheathed by half-hooded lids, lower lip consumed in the cage of his canine tooth as he sucks the slow drip of whatever drink did not make it to his tongue. ✕ the praise he dotes on you when he slots himself into the couch next to you is not unwelcome, and yet foreign and uncomfortable all the same. tobio is not unknown to shower you in kindness when you are alone, and when he can gather his words and his spirits, but now, in front of his friends and rivals from high school, it all feels a little out of place. ✕ his hand rests curiously high on your thigh, the other arm around your back to hold you close. he kisses your cheek and then your neck, warm breath smelling of the sweet concoction he’s downed one too many of in your absence.

⧾

“tobi,” you whimper when his thumb drifts against the seam of your jeans, manicured nails digging into the plush of your thigh, “a-are you drunk?”

“so what if i am?” his curt response is quick, just like always. you suppose even when drunk, he’s not completely unlike himself. your gaze meets his darkened irises, pupils dilating as he tries to focus on any one feature of your face. his tone softens as he looks at you a little while longer, “god, you’re beautiful.”

your expression must show how taken aback you are, because tobio’s nose scrunches and he looks like he’s eaten something sour, “have i never told you that before?”

“n-no, you have,” you shake your head to bring your wits about you, “it’s just weird to hear it in front of all your friends.”

kageyama shakes his head and straightens his spine, palm falling down to your shoulders to massage at the blade of your back, “well, it’s the truth. in front of my friends or at home. y-you’re pretty.”

you can’t help but laugh at his wavering voice, another wave of drunkenness bringing out a shy side of him that you’re used to seeing from time to time. you lean across the space between your bodies and press a kiss to his cheek, “you’re adorable, tobi. especially when you’re drunk.”

“d-do you need anything?” he asks, the palm on your thigh finding your hand to squeeze your knuckles between his own, “water? another drink?”

you nod, brushing dark hair back from his face to his ear so you can see his sapphire irises in full, “i could use some water, if you’re getting up. but you don’t have to get me anything, babe.”

tobio is standing to his feet as soon as you finish your sentence, eyes wide and hands still clutching at you, despite the distance, “of course!” and he is gone before you have another moment to draw him back in. biting your lip, you watch as he scrambles about the kitchen, but your attention is drawn away by the other girls sitting on the couch opposite of you.

when kageyama returns, his arms are full, and his mouth is moving as if it were attached to a motor, “i got you two bottles of water and they had a can of that seltzer you like in the fridge so i got that too, and then i know where hinata hides the chocolate so i grabbed you a few pieces and then there’s also an apple in case you get hungry.”

you want to laugh, you desperately want to let your giggles escape, but you tamper them down to take the various items teeming in tobio’s hands. you reach up to cup his cheek, “you really do think of everything, don’t you, kags?”

“for you,” his voice sounds faraway, ethereal, “i’d do anything for you.”

✕ most nights after a long week of training, or a tournament with msby, atsumu spends time with bokuto and hinata and sakusa, and even osamu tags along, and they buy up tumugi, sake, and vodka until they can’t see themselves home. atsumu has the dd or a cab bring him home, and you can always tell by the way his steps stutter over the rug that he’s too far gone to even know you’re home. ✕ atsumu is a clumsy, most of the time loud, drunk. he forgets how lumbering his body is, how much he weighs, and how his head might hit the overhanging light in the living room if he’s not too careful. ✕ as soon as he spots you, curled up on the couch, his whole being softens. he licks his lips and calls your name, eyes shining when you finally make eye contact. he’ll call out for you again, asking for his girl. ✕ atsumu’s hands are insatiable as he fumbles over the top of you from where you lay, tucking his head into your neck and caging you in with his limbs. he likes the reminder of how big he is, how he can encompass your space with minimum effort. he seeks skin on skin contact while he can’t see straight, preferring to close his eyes and just feel you. ✕ he’ll mutter things into your soft skin and slip his hands underneath your shirt, but it’s nothing you haven’t heard already, only accented with giggles and blown raspberries along your body.

⧾

“don’t you have a game tomorrow?”

“so what?!” he nips at your jaw, “what are you, my mother?!”

“that would make this a very strange position, wouldn’t it?” you snort, scratching your nails up the base of his back to his shoulders, his shirt riding up inch by inch. atsumu groans, dropping his head to your chest, circling his arms around your waist until he’s clinging onto you for dear life. he sighs and you try your hardest not to shiver at the feel of his warm breath over your bare skin.

he grunts, shifting his legs to get more comfortable, “osamu bet he could do three shots faster than me, and you know i’m the better twin, and i had to prove it, so i did it. and... and now’m here.”

another laugh makes its way out of your throat and you squeeze his shoulders, “that competition is going to get you in trouble one day. you can’t win everything.”

“i don’t gotta win everything,” atsumu licks his lips and takes a breath, craning his neck so he can look you in the eyes, “i already got you, don’t i?” you’re blushing but that doesn’t stop him, not when he’s on a drunken roll like this, “i mean, that’s about the best thing i ever coulda won.”

you twirl a finger in his hair to keep your hands busy, rolling your lips together as he rambles. atsumu pushes himself up further on your body so you’re eye-to-eye, the tip of his nose brushing up your cheek as he gets situated, “cause even when i lose a match, i still get to come home to you.”

the threatening heat of tears makes your eyes throb and you close them to get some relief. atsumu kisses both of your eyelids and then your nose, and your face scrunches at the overwhelming smell of vodka on his lips, but you don’t care, not when he’s being so kind and genuine. he cups your face with a palm, heady and calloused, and then kisses your cheek until your skin relaxes. he chuckles, “i mean it, sweetheart.”

“i know you do, ‘sumu,” your voice is thick and you clear your throat just after you speak. you finally peek your eyes open to look at him, and you almost wished you hadn’t. his umber irises melt into dark pupils, a warmth there that you cannot place, cannot describe. his skin is rosy, kissed by alcohol and emotion, and you just want to drown in him.

he noses your cheek and then captures your lips, soft kisses volleyed back and forth between the two of you as your hands roam and find supple skin and dense bone. lines blur between evening and morning, and words slur between the both of you.

and every time, as one breath ends and another begins, atsumu makes sure to show you that his words ring true, and his greatest win was always you.

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